Between Galaxies
by Spottedleafpaw
Summary: When Jim and Dimitri's mother Sarah is kidnapped, they must embark on a journey between dimensions to find her. They will face many challenges, but none so difficult as those of love. Cheesy summary, sorry. JimxAriel DimitrixAurora :3 rated T for safety
1. Prologue l Chapter 1

Hello all. It's your favorite bipolar lazy author all over again. I'm sorry that I've basically put all of my other stories on hiatus, but writer's block has eaten them up D: until I find all the old inspiration in the dark corners of my mind, I won't manage to update soon on those.

This little baby, however, is going to be on here as well as deviantart, so maybe the double pressure will make me focus on the task some more XD I feel awful but happy.

And thus, I bring you my new Jim and Ariel story. Enjoy!

* * *

"Five minutes are up, put down your pens."

Jim Hawkins sighed, frustrated, as he set down his writing utensil. In the five minutes they were given to compose a short paragraph about "what they wished to accomplish in their first year of the Space Academy", he had managed to write nothing. Well, nothing of purpose seemed to come to his mind, and as he racked his brain for a quick solution before the robot holding the scanner would reach his cubicle, he found nothing. It wasn't until the robot was a mere two cubicles away when he recalled a detail of his miraculous escape from the exploding Treasure Planet, and hastiliy scrawled it onto the paper.

Just then, the robot rounded his cubicle and held out the scanner. Jim reluctantly placed the paper face down onto the scanner as his answer was absorbed into the robot's memory system, and simultaneously sent to the front of the classroom, where Professor Filomenus recieved the class' collected answers on an electronic notepad and reviewed them with a bored expression on his face. The man had distinct human features, save for the spotted tail that curled around his chair at the moment.

Jim sighed again, and surveyed the Professor's face intently as the robot moved on to his neighbor. The bored expression remained, yet as he flicked his finger across the notepad to move on to the next answer, his expression changed drastically. His lips curled into a small smile, revealing pointed incisors, and his eyes filled themselves with a sort of disdainful humor. He looked up from his notepad straight into the eyes of the worried spacer.

"James Hawkins?" he called, not breaking their gaze. Jim stood up and walked forward when the Professor motioned him to the desk.

"Yes, Professor?" he asked, barely managing to keep the anxiety out of his voice. The Professor smirked at him.

"Mr. Hawkins, you did not write a paragraph about what was requested. This is a mere line. However..." the Professor cut him off, as Jim was about to interject with an apology followed by some excuse or another. "...the subject to which you hinted captures your interest, as well as mine. Why did you write about such a thing?"

It was a rhetorical question, and Jim realized this, so he kept his mouth shut. "I know, of course, about your escapades to Treasure Planet, and how you escaped, yet this one line still puzzles me. You must know, as well as we all do, that Inter-Dimensional travel is not possible and cannot be achieved no matter how much one believes it can. I myself have studied extensively over this subject, and can assure you that such a request would, unfortunately, be denied to you by me and all those scientists that have tried, failed, and given up this attempt."

Jim detected a hint of bitterness in his Professor's voice, but he paid it no mind. The notion that Inter-Dimensional travel could be accomplished had been swimming around in his brain for a while now, ever since the ship had managed to traverse the galaxy in escaping the exploding planet on his great adventure. He quickly voiced these thoughts to his Professor, who seemed genuinely intrigued, yet sadly dispelled the notion with a casual flick of his tail.

"I'm sorry, but we all have known that traversing the galaxy is a different concept entirely, your point still cannot be true. It is a very captivating concept, isn't it?" he said, while giving Jim a sympathetic look. "Yet I wouldn't get too caught up with it. You just might spend the rest of your life dwelling on it, trying to prove me wrong, and your life will pass by much too quickly when you realize that it is all for nothing."

He gave Jim a final sympathetic look, and then dismissed him with another wave of his tail. Jim took the hint and sat down in his seat, anger boiling in his veins all the way there.  
Upon reaching his cubicle, he stared down at the little lines of words scrawled in his own handwriting. Interdimensional Travel. He growled softly and pressed his balled up fists into his knees to stop him from hitting something. It could be done, and Jim was going to prove it.

* * *

Jim returned to his brother's flat immediately after school let out, slamming the door behind him. Dimitri looked up, startled, from the popcorn that was cooking in the microwave. "Rough first day, huh?"

Jim scowled and hastened to his room. He sat his messenger bag down on the floor next to his solar surfer, which he had been tinkering with the night before. He resumed working on it, ignoring the pile of homework screaming at him from the inside of his bag. 'None from Professor F, though... hmph.' he thought, tightening the sail to the board.

Dimitri had made his way into the room, leaning against the door with a smirk on his handsome face. "I'll take that as affirmative. What happened? Lunch disaster? Girl shun you the second you looked at her funny? Teacher..."

"...just gave me the challenge of a lifetime" Jim mumbled, adjusting the engine's welds with a bit more force than necessary. Dimitri raised an eyebrow.

"Which would be...?"

"To figure out a way to travel between dimensions."

Dimitri's mouth dropped, and he stood there in Jim's doorway for about a minute before walking over to Jim's bed and sitting down. He regained his composure quickly.

"I didn't know they taught such advanced stuff to first years at the Academy" he joked, although a bit less light-heartedly than before. Jim snorted.

"They aren't teaching it. I'm just gonna figure out how to do it. To prove my Professor and all those who have tried before him wrong." he stated firmly. Dimitri shook his head at his little brother. That kid was a genius, all right, but some things were just too dangerous to mess with. Scientists, and some of the most advanced, had died attempting this type of travel, and he didn't want his little brother to perish on some fool's quest. Sure, they had both come close to dying on the RLS Legacy a few months ago, but that was different. Dimitri had at least some control over what his brother was doing. His brother continued tinkering, absorbed in his work, while Dimitri thought of a plan to make his brother give up his plan. And of course, having a brilliant mind that ran in the family, Dimitri thought of an answer.

"Do it in two weeks." Jim dropped his welder and stared at his older brother like he had grown three other heads. "You heard me. You are definitely genius enough to pull it off, and you could wow the entire world if you manage in such a short time." Jim spluttered, looking for words to describe how crazy impossible this task would become, and was once again at a loss.

"How?" was his intelligent response. Dimitri laughed.

"You are the inventor of this family! You tell me! Actually don't. I'd be stuck in here for hours, when I could be spending quality time with Anya." In saying this, he got up from Jim's bed and walked out the door to where the front door suddenly opened to let in his girlfriend Anya, who he had been working up the courage to propose to sometime soon. "Good luck, my brother!" he called out, and dissapeared.

Jim stared at his hands, looking at them with an intense desire for them to just get up and build the stupid thing for him. How would he have the time to do that, his homework, and keep up with school all at once? He got up and immediately rushed through his fairly easy first-day homework, and decided what aspect of his life to give up. 'I could give up school, just not pay attention and use that time to work on this and rack my brain for answers... But that would dissappoint my family, can't have that... I'll give up solar surfing, that's easy enough...' he thought, looking down at his board wistfully. And then it hit him.

He rushed out of his room to see Dimitri and Anya engaged in a hologram movie with popcorn spilling on the couch. "Dimitri, I know what I'm going to do about... Oh hi Anya." he said, not wanting to be rude to his brother's girlfriend. He just didn't like her much, what with the constant pressure on Dimitri to buy her things and keep her entertained. "Anyways, I might be a little socially reserved for the next two weeks, so don't expect me to pay you any attention or go visit the Benbow with you... Don't look at me like that, just tell mom I'm super busy with school... Ok? Good." he finished, and ran right back to his room and slammed the door.

* * *

He wasn't seen except to grab a quick meal, go to school, or use the bathroom for the next week. Dimitri shook his head every time his genius of a brother emerged from his cavern of a bedroom. He visited his mother on the weekend at the Benbow Inn, yet when Jim wasn't there to accompany her oldest son, Sarah Hawkins nearly had a heart attack. Dimitri managed to explain the situation to his hyperventilating mother, although he left out a few key details regarding the danger of the project itself. This relaxed Sarah almost immediately; Jim preoccupied with a school project? Fine with her, by all means!

As the end of the two weeks drew nearer, Jim worked with a fervor that affected his brother as well. He felt the tension in the air, thick enough to cut a chunk out of it. Since the beginning of week two, noises of construction and metal being hurled across the room resonated throughout the flat, and they increased until finally, one night, they ceased.

Jim emerged from his room, weary yet with a huge grin on his face, ran to Dimitri's room and promptly began banging on the door. "What? What is it?" the annoyed older brother yelled. He was about as ready for these two weeks to end just as much as Jim was eager to open his brother's door to show him the final product. Dimitri opened the door and nearly started when an obnoxious Jim thrust a curious device in the general direction of Dimitri's face.

"It's done." he said triumphantly. Dimitri swatted Jim's arm away from his face while grabbing the device from him to inspect it. Jim shrieked and snatched it back tenderly, cradling it in such a way that made Dimitri laugh out loud.

"That is the final product? That is what you've been working on for two solid weeks? A funky looking necklace?" Jim arrogantly glared at his brother.

"It's not just a necklace, you idiot. once you twist the dial fully around the front of the orb, it creates a... a wormhole of sorts? A kind of tear in our dimension, I guess, and enables us to be pulled through into another one!" Dimitri was frankly impressed by Jim's words, yet looking at the metal thing he couldn't honestly believe that it would work.

"Are there, like, some sort of safety precautions to it? How do you kow you won't be transported to some new dimension in their version of outer space?" Jim shrugged.

"It has a chip in it that I programmed to cause a pull of the dimension's gravity to hold the traveler in place until it locates somewhere solid for a safe landing." Now Dimitri was beginning to look more like he believed his younger brother, and Jim knew it. He couldn't resist the smug grin that bloomed across his features.

"And how exactly did you get it to work?" Of course. The pivotal, most important question of all. Jim smirked, feeling astounded again by his own cleverness.

"You know how Flint built his planet out of some sort of metal stuff that connected it in the end to the map?" Dimitri nodded. He remembered. "Well, I collected some of the dust from the metal in the side of the planet, you know when I surfed along the edge of the crevice to get my surfer's engine started? Some of the dust was residing in my surfer's engine, and i scraped it off, tweaked it with some of that stuff Doppler uses to send tin cans to other parts of his study, and here we are!" he finished with a grin that he hadn't sported in a long time. Dimitri grinned back.

"Well, little bro, looks like you've got yourself quite the invention there!" he said, and clapped Jim on the shoulder.

Suddenly a knock on their front door was heard, resonating through the house in an odd fashion. Dimitri ran to open it with Jim close behind him. It was the two robot police officers that Jim knew all too well, and he shrank a bit behind his older brother.

"Dimitri and James Hawkins?" the first officer stated. He knew who they were, so it was more of a statement than an inquiry. "I have unsettling news for you both. Your mother, Sarah Hawkins, has vanished."

Jim caught the breath leaving his throat in a rush, as if he had been punched in the stomach. He looked to Dimitri, whose knuckles had turned as white as his blanched face.

"How..." Dimitri began, yet he couldn't finish the question as he was at a loss of words. Jim, feeling much the same, kept his mouth into a firmly pressed line.

"She was apprehended by...something unknown a few hours ago in the orchard of the Benbow Inn. No one saw her, and it was only discovered that she was missing when she did not answer her message hails from Dr. Doppler or Captain Amelia. This locket was found in the orchard." the officer stated this mechanically, and now presented the boys with the locket their mother always wore around her neck.

Jim numbly reached out for it, his fingers closing around the cool metal before letting his hand drop to his side. He couldn't bear to look at it.

"You are requested to meet with Dr. Doppler shortly, he is on his way here from the Benbow and will arrive in approximately 10 minutes." Ten minutes to compose themselves, Jim thought hurriedly, his fingers tightening around the locket. He didn't think it would be enough.

Yet before his eyes time flew much too quickly, and ten minutes passed in a blur of doors closing, sitting numbly on the couch, picturing his poor mother in some creature's grasp, and Dimitri cursing until he realized that the Doctor was there, sitting across from him, babbling nervously and fidgeting with his spectacles.

"Jim, have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" he finally blurted, exasperated. Jim fell out of his trance, abruptly, and dropped the locket onto the couch.

"What did you say, Doctor?" he mumbled, his tone laced with an apology. The Doctor sighed, yet gave a small smile.

"It's ok, Jim. Everything will turn out for the better?" he said, turning this last statement into a fearful question. Jim gave him a puzzled look. "Jim, Dimitri... You see, that locket is much more than it seems."

Jim snorted, and Dimitri, who had been standing with his head against the hearth of the fireplace, snorted almost simultaneously. The Doctor looked indignant. "Boys! Really! It isn't just a hologram necklace, it's a life-tracking device! It keeps tabs on your mother's life and wellbeing no matter where she is!"

This made Dimitri turn to face their canine friend. "And how did that thing get installed into our mother's locket?" Doppler suddenly became quite interested in his shoes, and mumbled something unintelligible. "Hmm?" Dimitri prodded.

"Well, your...father asked me to install it a while ago, when Jim was born. He gave me his key to it when he..left" the Doctor managed to choke out. Jim's eyes narrowed.

"Why would that... Why would he care about her? Why would he... do that?" Jim spat angrily, his fists clenching until he was given a warning look by his brother. The Doctor looked genuinely distressed.

"I have no idea, Jim. I didn't ask questions. But I am asking them now... for, the detector says that she is in perfect health, but it appears as if she's..." he trailed off, not wanting to finish such a rediculous statement.

"She's?" Dimitri and Jim growled together.

"...not in this dimension anymore. She has vanished, POOF! Right off of the detector's capability to track her in any part of the galaxy."

Jim's hands became clammy. He had trouble swallowing. He slowly pulled his recently completed invention out of his pocket, and then turned his eyes toward his brother, whose expression mirrored his. Of course. The answer to finding their mother was in the palm of their hands.

* * *

:D so tell me what you think! I hope to God and Jesus that I find the time to write this story fully until completion... And please poke me for updates when I get lazy. I will probably respond to each PM I get, so please feel free :D

And also remember, this is SO going to be JimxAriel. Warning all those who expect something else (though why would you? XD theyre the cutest thing ever!) Yet i don't know around what time she'll be introduced to our lovely Jim. But she will, if you keep poking me for updates! :D

I'm going to try to update every month, so be happy if I manage to get in a couple of chapters before the month is up finished. Pray for me! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Here it is! :) please be nice and review! I worked on this for 3 days exactly.. but these days were sandwiched in between weeks of SCHOOL. and work, etc... Anyways, this is more of a filler chapter D: sorry to disappoint or anything, but all the REAL good stuff happens next chapter (up sometime in October, hopefully). So keep watch! 3

* * *

Jim and Dimitri immediately sprang to action, rushing around the house and grabbing items that they might have needed for such an adventure. Jim ran to his room, leaving a surprised and confused Doctor sitting on his couch, while Dimitri hastened to the kitchen and began emptying out the cabinets of the food.

Jim pulled his duffel backpack out of his closet, and threw a variety of clothes and tools in there, including his father's pipe. Although he had mixed feelings about the man, he still felt comfort whenever he had the pipe nearby. It was his last reminder of him even having a father, and he held onto that as a treasure of greatest importance.

He reached under his bed and pulled out a cardboard box. He lifted the lid, and pulled out a laser pistol that he had smuggled off of the RLS Legacy on their adventure. He never expected to have the need to use it come so soon. He shoved the pistol in his bag, grabbed his solar surfer and headed out the door. His brother had his bag packed, and was dividing the food supplies into two piles

"Take these" Dimitri gestured to a pile of different assortments of dry, packaged food and a few purps. He then filled up two large jugs with water, handed one to Jim, and went to pack his own food.

"Boys, where do you think you are going to go?" Doctor Doppler finally interjected, after many minutes of babbling to himself and spastically twitching on the couch.

"Jim has literally just completed an Inter-Dimensional traveling device" Dimitri said matter of factly, although with a twinge of forced conviction underlying the confidence. The Doctor, of course, nearly fell out of his seat.

"An Inter... But that's... It's never..." he struggled to find the appropriate expression of skepticism and incredulity as the boys continued to prepare for their imminent journey.

"It will work. I know it, and you will all see that I was right," Jim said firmly, stuffing the last purp into his bag and zipping it up.

The Doctor, for once, stopped twitching. He sighed, and shook his head slightly.

"Boys, I know that the loss of one parent can be dreadful... Losing the second is even worse, yet nothing you can do will be able to bring her back! It would take eons of time to discover how to travel between dimensions, and whoever inhabits the dimension that took your mother must have had much more advanced equipment and technology... But it simply cannot be done!"

Jim smiled bitterly, and patted the Doctor on the shoulder. "Doc, you'll see" he said, and slung his bag over his shoulders, the surfer clutched under his left arm. "Dimitri, we have to stop at the Academy before we leave. I need to talk to Professor Filomenus."

* * *

Upon their arrival at the Academy, almost no one was there, for it was dusk. Jim knew that his professor was at the Academy since he seemed to never leave his room. Jim had been in detention once for the entire night for not paying attention in class (for he was brainstorming his little at home project), and as he passed the Professor's room on his way out, he saw the feline asleep with his head propped in between a book.

Jim scanned his palm at the student entrance, while Dimitri scanned his on the visitor's pad. They were both allowed access, and proceeded through the doors. The classroom they looked for was on the first floor, and they reached it before they received too many questioning looks from faculty members walking along the hallways.

Jim knocked on the slightly ajar door to the Professor's room, and then pushed it open before a reply was given. The feline looked up from a holographic project that was being explained to him by the voice of one of Jim's classmates. He saw who was entering his classroom, and in the way that his pupil's face was set, he knew that there was something more than makeup assignments to be discussed in the next few minutes.

"James. Dimitri," he said, aknowledging the two. "What brings you here...and equipped in such a way?"

"Professor, I've accomplished the Inter-Dimensional travel device. I made it over the past two weeks" the spacer said, holding up the device by the small chain he used to loop through it. The professor blinked slowly, then reached out to touch it, but Jim pulled it out of his grasp.

"Please don't touch it until I explain how it works" Jim said politely, then continued. "It creates a wormhole that pulls the traveler through it into another dimension. It doesn't specify which, therefore it can be any dimension. It has a gravity chip that pulls the traveler to whatever gravity the new dimension has so one doesn't float around in space. I want you to witness me as my brother and I execute the first test run of the device."

Filomenus caught his breath in his throat. "Jim..." he began. However Jim, in somewhat of a hurry, cut him off again.

"Sir, listen. My brother and I _have_ to go. We are kindof in a hurry so just agree with me. If it doesn't work, you can laugh at me all you want. But, since that won't happen, I'm just asking you to see us off."

The professor took a skeptical glance at the necklace in Jim's hands, sighed, and pushed his spectacles up to the bridge of his nose.

"All right. Proceed."

Jim nodded, an apprehensiveness creeping into his confidence. He walked over to his brother, who gave him an encouraging look. They linked arms, and Jim began to twist the dial fully around the orb shaped device. It began to get hot in his hand, and he clutched it in his fist, his arm outstretched.

The professor's eyes widened, and he leapt out of his chair. The floor around the brothers seemed to be dissolving, creating a black hole type rip in the ground.

Dimitri yelped in surprise as gravity disappeared around him. He was being pulled into that black chasm, yet there was no ground to be anchored to anymore.

The last thing Jim saw before going under into the wormhole was his professor's face, a mask of awe and glee. Then the blackness closed around him.

* * *

They were whizzing through everything. They traveled so quickly that Jim strained himself to see it all, but that would have been an impossible task. It felt as if they were making their way at an extremely fast speed through a type of gelatin, yet they sliced through it like a knife.

All around them the fabric of everything flew by. Metals, liquids, colors, steam, faces, and so much more impossible things that Jim could not distinguish. He thought he saw a million stones in passing, all a different shade of grey, some that his eyes had not even seen before.

He also saw many a grotesque sight, such as people burning in what looked to be liquid, flecks of blood spraying by, and so much more that he had to close his eyes. At this point, the device was ice cold, so cold that it had frozen to his hand, so even if he tried to let go, it would have been stuck.

And then it all ceased. The motion of flying through that gelatinous substance had stopped, and he felt as if he was an insect trapped in amber.

"Welcome to the InterDimensional Traveling Port. My name is Eris, and I am the goddess of Chaos. I will be directing you onward from this point, for it appears to me that you are new to this method of transportation..."

The voice sounded dry, sarcastic and bored. Jim stared at it's owner, a woman of grey skin and long flowing black hair. She was wearing a smoky purple dress, and across her chest was a pulsing blue scar in the shape of an X. Jim, puzzled, realized that as they were floating suspended in the midst of the millions of things flashing by them, he, Dimitri, and Eris were the only ones there.

"Uh... Eris, right? Could you explain... well, everything? I've never been more confused in my entire life" Dimitri gasped, clutching Jim's arm tighter. Eris rolled her eyes, but the scar pulsed brighter and she flinched.

"You two have somehow managed to make that Interdimensional traveling device and pass through the skin of your dimension, which was basically the surface for you, into these 'veins' that connect all parallel dimensions. Right now you are just floating around in them, since this is your first voyage and you need to know the rules before going any further."

Dimitri nodded, but Jim wasn't satisfied. "How can we tell which dimension we're going to?" Eris laughed.

"You can't. It all depends on fate. Where your machine decides to take you is up to it completely. You won't find out where you are until you get there. Speaking of which.. Your machine needs repairs. Hand it over so I can fix it"

Jim clutched the device in his fist tighter. "No! If I let go, Dimitri and I will get hurled into who knows where!"

Eris rolled her eyes again, and floated over to Jim. "Put it around your neck then, and I'll fix it from there. I honestly _can't_ harm you in any way. I'm not allowed... this damn contract binds me to helping all those who travel through here" she said, pointing to the glowing blue X on her chest.

Jim relaxed his hold on the device, and slipped the leather band over his head. He slowly pried his hand, painfully, from it's death grip on the machine, and he realized that it took some of his skin with it, like ice does when one holds it for too long out in the cold. Eris immediately began tinkering with it as it hovered in the space between it, some sort of gold string flying from her fingers to warp and solidify Jim's creation.

When she had finished, the machine looked somewhat the same, although it had a new dial that was much smaller at the top of the orb, and a golden "5" engraved on the side, with five small dots on the side. Three were glowing gold.

"What does that mean?" Jim asked, pointing to the dots.

"Those show how many passengers this device is carrying with it across dimensions. Only five are allowed with any one party of travelers, and it seems that three are traveling with it right now" Eris explained. Jim looked curiously at the object in his hand. Who else was traveling with them? It was just him and Dimitri, wasn't it?

Eris must have noticed his puzzled expression. "That little pink shape shifter in your bag counts as a traveler" she said.

"Morph!" Dimitri and Jim exclaimed, and the pink blob in question squeaked from inside Jim's bag.

"It doesn't matter. Once we find mom, that will be four people and we'll be fine." Jim said. Eris snorted.

"That other dial is the one that will bring you back to me once your quest is over. I figured it would be more convenient to send you home myself rather than you wandering aimlessly between galaxies and dimensions wreaking havoc which _I_ will have to fix... But that's it. Oh, you can only twist that dial once. When you find your mother and wish to return home, twist it and it will take you back to me. But it only works once, so be careful."

Why Eris was being so nice to them, Jim couldn't fathom. A few minutes ago she was sour and rude; her mood only seemed to change when Jim noted that only four people would be returning... Yet Jim lost track of those thoughts completely, and Eris seemed to be dissolving, and he and Dimitri were moving now at lightning speed past all the colors and items whizzing by them.

They were approaching some sort of curve heading to the right in the tunnel, and they were going to smack right into the tunnel's side unless they turned. Jim and Dimitri yelled, trying to turn themselves away from the impact that was sure to happen, yet the device in Jim's grasp suddenly wrenched itself free from his hand and dragged Jim, holding tightly to his brother, headfirst through the side of the tunnel wall.

It felt like resurfacing from being underwater. They plummeted through the 'vein' of dimensions, as Eris had called it, into blackness. The device lowered them to the ground, giving off a strange aqua color as it did so. The second Jim's feet touched the ground, something whipped past his face, leaving a deep gash in his cheek. Dimitri cried out as something similar happened to him, blood welling to the surface of his forehead. The slicing and cutting then multiplied, and the blackness continued to attack them.

They had landed in the middle of a battle between shadows, and there was no way for them to find their way out.

* * *

Reviews? Those would be much appreciated :D


	3. Chapter 3

Don't kill me for being a super slow updater... but yea. Life got in the way. :/ But i'll have chapters 4 & 5 up before Christmas as a present :)

* * *

Chapter 3:

They were being sliced apart by seemingly nothing, and Jim figured they had about sixty seconds before they were reduced to ribbons. He yelled and crouched to the ground, pulling his backpack open to grab his pistol, and Morph flew out. The blackness tried to slice through the little shifter, but they passed right through him.

Jim had tried to fire at the shadows, but nothing seemed to be working, as the lasers simply glided onward through the blackness.

"Dimitri!" he yelled, fumbling around for his brother. His hand, at this point bloody and cut up, found Dimitri's jacket, and he slid over to crouch with his brother, covering up as much exposed skin as possible.

Suddenly, Jim felt something, seemingly a tarp, cover him completely, and he was hoisted into the air by a pair of strong arms. He squirmed and struggled, but a voice from somewhere above him yelled "Stop! Do you want to die? I'm helping you!"

Jim fell still at these words, and allowed himself to be carried a few more steps. Then, he was set down and the tarp was taken off of him. His eyes adjusted to the light, and he became so dizzy that he started to sway.

"Whoa, there. You'll be needing to sit down," the voice said, and steadied him. He was lead to a chair and he sank into it gratefully. He then surveyed his surroundings. He was in a small room of some sort, with very industrial architecture. It was filled with many sorts of strange but homey pieces of furniture and decor, such as clay and terracotta vases and a purple carpet under his feet. There was a fire blazing in a dug out pit in the middle of the room. Large guns filled with strange ammunition decorated the walls. Jim then noticed the other people, those who had rescued him, staring at him.

The owner of the voice was a big, brawny guy with reddish hair and kind blue eyes. Standing next to him was a thin, tall girl with long curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She had angular features that made her seem to be someone Jim didn't want to cross.

"You took quite a slashing out there, kid. I'll go get a rag so you can wash up," she said, and hurried out of the room. The buff guy chuckled.

"She's great. She cares so much for others, I don't know what I'd do without her. That's Meg, by the way. An I'm Herc, Hercules actually, but you can just call me Herc." Jim nodded, and stood up briefly to shake his hand.

"Jim Hawkins."

Meg then returned to the room carrying a small bowl and a white rag soaked in warm water. She began scrubbing Jim's face, and only then did he realize how bloody and cut up he was. His skin cried out in protest as the hot water hit it, but he only winced slightly. After he had been cleaned up and bandaged, it suddenly hit him. Dimitri! He leapt out of the chair, not really knowing what he could do, when the metal door burst open and three figures burst in. One was covered with a tarp.

"Dimitri!" he exclaimed, and ran to his brother. He pulled off the tarp and hissed when he saw how much blood covered his brother. Meg rolled her eyes and went to get another washcloth. The two others were pulling off their protective gear, some leathery dark black material that stuck to their skin. One was a thin guy, with a dark complexion and shaggy black hair. He was built, but not as brawny as Herc. The other was a curvy girl with the same dark complexion, her long black hair tied into a loose ponytail that extended past her waist, with a silvery coronet around her head. She had a heart shaped face and piercing eyes, another tough girl.

"Your friend came this close to getting shredded. Aladdin had to hoist him across his back to get him, what, _five feet_ into this building? What were you thinking?" she exclaimed fiercely. Jim felt a twinge of anger flare up in him.

"Uh, excuse me, princess, but how was _I_ supposed to know that those weird whatever they were things would attack us the second we touch down! We just got here, how was _I_ supposed to realize the dangers of this place? I hardly could tell which dimension the machine was taking us, so how the heck can you tell me that I knew what was going to happen? I didn't even know there was a house five feet away, and-"

"Hold it, did you say another dimension?" Herc interjected. Jim nodded, his mouth open to continue yelling at this girl with the weird crown on her head.

"How did you... Never mind. We'll figure this out after your friend wakes up." Herc said firmly, and closed the matter. Princess glared at Jim, but stayed silent, even with Aladdin trying to calm her down.

When Dimitri woke up, Jim was instantly alert and at his brother's side. Dimitri groaned as all of the pain of being practically shredded to bits was suddenly pulled into sharper focus.

"Owww... Jim, what did you do this time?" he groaned, sitting up from the cot he was lying on. It was only then that he noticed his surroundings, and that every person in the room had their eyes fixed on him.

"Dimitri! I'm so glad you're awake! Some weird stuff has been going on... You wouldn't believe where we are! We landed into some crazy apocalyptic dimension..." he began excitedly. Dimitri stared at his brother. It looked like someone had taken a knife to Jim's usually flawless features. Jim noticed his brother gawking at him. "It will clear up when I put some of that stuff Meg is making on it. Yours too." he reassured his brother.

Dimitri relaxed, but he continued to stare at the building he was being housed in. From what he could gather, it looked like they were in an unused warehouse of some sorts, converted to seem more homey, what with all of the carpets and vases and mismatched furniture.

"Where are we?" he asked, his throat scratching as he spoke. One of the two other guys inn the room, the more slight of them, handed him a glass of water, which he drank gratefully.

"You and your brother are in our little hideout. I'm Aladdin, by the way, and that guy over there is Herc, that little lady making your healing paste is Meg, and this beautiful creature next to me is Princess Jasmine" he said, his voice full of a soothing, and almost musical quality. Jasmine huffed and rolled her eyes, yet a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Herc leaned away from the fire pit, which he was tending to, and gave him an encouraging smile. "Your brother explained everything to us. I've got to admit I'm impressed with that kid, that's some high-tech stuff he's made. You're just lucky to have survived the shadows, is all."

Dimitri saw Jim redden a bit at that comment, but he was now full of an intense curiosity. "What are those shadows?" he asked. Meg looked up from the wooden board she was crushing herbs on.

"They're the souls of the viciously killed" she spoke ominously, and then returned to crushing herbs.

Dimitri felt a shiver run down his spine, and Jim clenched his fists. Meg looked up again, as if sensing the tension in the air, and spoke again.

"Not so long ago, yet it was also before my time, during my youth, a war broke out among every member of mankind on this planet. It was as if a deadly disease took hold of all of the people alive. Only a few were spared, for they hid from the shadowy plague descending upon our planet. They locked down places like these with enough people that were not infected by this bloodlust, and we remained here ever since" she paused, and took a breath.

"Yet outside, as people continued to kill each other, the methods being much too brutal for me to describe, the dead lying in heaps across the lands, their souls became as mangled as the bodies they came from. They morphed into what you saw today, the dark shadows that covered everything, as far as the eye can see. If we venture out without our protective gear, we most certainly will get cut to bits, and then join their bloody ranks. So we stay put" she said.

For a moment, Dimitri thought she had finished talking, although there was so much more he wanted to know. Yet she began again.

"Herc, Aladdin, Jasmine, and I are the last of us. That we know of, at least. There could be more hideouts like ours, but I doubt they are as strongly protected as this one. We are currently inside the remains of the safe house of the Royal Palace, thanks to Jasmine here. She was the newborn princess at the time the war broke out" she paused again, to dump the crushed herbs into a bowl, and then to add boiling water and some greyish paste to the mixture.

"Eventually, this whole planet will be consumed by the shadows. We will all die out, and the dead will have their way at last" she finished solemnly, and stirred the paste. She then got up, stirring, wandered over to Jim, and began dabbing his face with the gooey substance. Jim winced repeatedly.

"So... our mother couldn't have..." Dimitri began, and Jim shook his head, earning a glare from Meg, who told him to keep his head still.

"Whoever took her wouldn't have come to this place. They would have been killed instantly" Jim said, and a wave of reassurance passed through Dimitri. He then frowned, and began racking his brains. He wondered if there was a way he could help these people; Meg said that it was almost like a disease. Were there ways to counter a disease such as this one?

"Are the bodies still lying out there?" he spat out suddenly, and he earned a quizzical look from Aladdin.

"Yes, we don't want to go too close to them... It's around them that the shadows are most concentrated. They seem pretty attached to their bodies..." he trailed off, brow furrowing.

Dimitri's glance shot to Jim immediately, who was thinking the same thing, it seemed.

"Then all we have to do is get rid of the bodies!" Jim exclaimed, leaping up and knocking Meg's hand away in the process. She scowled, muttered "You're done, anyways," and moved on to Dimitri. She began lathering the paste over his face and hands, and it had a curious sting to it, as if it were knitting his skin back together.

Herc looked thunderstruck. Dimitri could tell his brain was formulating many ideas as to how that could work. He was staring intently at the fire pit, but not tending to it anymore, the poker lying limply in his hand.

"Well, that's... well it certainly could work, but how do we get rid of the bodies?" Jasmine spoke in an almost curious voice, yet the hard edge was still there beneath it all.

"We burn them."

Herc had raised his eyes from the flames at last. There was a thick silence for a while, and it was then that all those present in the room knew that they had come across a solution.

Oil and gasoline in tow, ("The last of it, may I remind you... So if this doesn't work..." Meg let that hang as they gathered their equipment. Herc ignored her.) all six of them were huddled about the door, protective suits covering every inch of their bodies. There was so much that they had to carry with them, that for a while they stood there motionless, floundering silently as they stared at the equipment. Then Aladdin hoisted a jug of gasoline over his shoulder, grabbed one of the largest guns, and stepped to the side.

"Next" he said playfully. His was about the only cheeriness in the room, but it was effective enough for Jasmine soon followed suit, and picked up a smaller gun and a jug of oil. When nothing more was left for them to carry, Herc stood with his hand on the door's intricate lock. He performed a complex movement, and there was a clang as the door unstuck itself from its metal frame.

They quickly filed out into the darkness, and it was only thanks to the protective suits that nothing rushed out at them. Aladdin shut the door with another loud clang, and they marched forward into the blackness.

It was eerie, and Jim felt the unsettling feeling that was associated with being watched. He trekked after the others, the suit clinging tightly to his skin. He could see them through a strange contraption covering his eyes; or rather, he could see their outlines in a faint purplish tint that fought against the blackness. As they walked, Jim felt the uneven cobbles of the road that they were walking on through the thin material of the protective suit, yet it did not impede his walking.

It really was one of the most peculiar sensations, being inside the suit, and Jim itched to take it off, for it was a suffocating thing to wear. He would have given in, had he not known of the dangers lying just beyond the protection of that strange material. He trudged forward, the small pistol and the two jugs of gasoline he had been given to carry awkward at his sides.

From what he could feel as he walked, they were approaching a well walked area of this town, for the stones had become much smoother. Then, abruptly, they came to a stop. The eerie silence was suffocating. Herc pointed forward, and Jim walked to stand with him shoulder to shoulder. His hands being full, he leaned his knee forward to see if there was anything there. It came in contact with something soft. A body.

Jim leapt back. The body was at knee height, so that could only mean that there were more, many more, stacked like a giant pyre ready for burning. The oppressiveness of the darkness was worse here, and Jim wondered why the shadows hadn't attacked them yet.

At Herc's signal, Jim pulled the cork out from the bottle neck, and began sloshing gasoline all over the massive pile of bodies. He saw the outlines of Jasmine and Aladdin doing the same, except they rounded the circle of bodies, still pouring, and kept going until the corner took them out of sight.

Jim poured and tossed gasoline as high as possible, and heard a soft wet slap as it made contact with the bodies. He continued to do this until both his jugs of gasoline were empty. Similar situations must have occurred to the others, for the wet slap of oil ceased. Jim gripped his pistol tightly. Why hadn't the shadows attacked yet?

Herc's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Now!" he boomed, and Jim fired straight ahead. That was when all hell broke loose.

An eruption of flames engulfed the mass of bodies, and suddenly they were no longer in darkness, but the heat of the flames pushed Jim and the others back into the darkness, where the shadows were waiting. There was an intense feeling of something trying to push into Jim, something trying to get past the suit, but it simply couldn't. Therefore, it resolved to grabbing Jim and pulling him, trying to tear him limb from limb.

Jim flailed madly against the iron grips, and pushed his way back to the burning pyre of bodies. Looking back, he noticed that the darkness was receding. There were screams all around him, for he felt as if that suffocating atmosphere was lifting as those agonized screams continued. The shadows were dissipating, and more and more of the world that was covered so long in darkness was being revealed.

The cobbled stones were coming into view with the light of the fire, and Jim stared at those so as to avoid looking at the twisted faces burning behind him. He felt a hand on his arm, and turned to see Dimitri. He gave him a meaningful look of relief, although he doubted his brother could see it through the suit. Yet Dimitri squeezed his arm tightly, and turned to see the world open up before them.

The screams of the shadows were still there, but the darkness had almost completely retreated into nothingness, leaving light for the first time in its wake. Finally, as the screams faded, a vast empty city was revealed to them. Jim stared at the expanse of disheveled buildings, the broken windows, and greyness that colored a city without use. It made him restless.

However, as he and Dimitri walked a bit further along the cobbled stones of the streets, he saw vast expanse of grey land stretching as far as the eye could see at the city limits. He turned back to the fire, and gasped. From the buildings began to emerge small amounts of people; they came out in twos and threes, but all together there were quite a few. He looked at Dimitri, who had taken off the head covering of his suit, and was smiling,

The darkness had retreated as far as the city's suburbs, and probably much further, and Jim knew that the people of this planet could fight it off completely, once their forces had banded together.

Returning to the center of town, they met up with Herc, Meg, Aladdin, and Jasmine, who were visibly overwhelmed with shock to be seeing more people alive. Beaming, Jasmine gave them both a hug.

"We did it! We can fight this off!" she exclaimed happily, and turned to kiss Aladdin.

Jim and Dimitri laughed in an awed relief; they had helped this place become well on the way to healing.

All packed and ready to leave, Jim and Dimitri (along with Morph, who they had discovered cowering in Jim's backpack for the remainder of their visit to this world) were saying their last goodbyes to the four people they had helped.

Meg had given them each a hug. "Those scars should be gone in a couple of days, but if they don't disappear quickly, I made this for you to take with you" she said, handing them a jar of the pasty ointment she had used to seal their cuts. Jim stuffed it carefully in his backpack.

"Thank you, for everything. I don't know how to thank you enough" Herc said, shaking their hands. Aladdin had simply smiled and handed them a rolled up green carpet that had previously been lying on the floor of the shelter.

"You'll see how useful this will turn out to be. It's been dormant for a while but... I think with the crazy stuff you guys are bound to get into it will wake up" he said, and grinning, wouldn't say more. Puzzled, Dimitri stuck the carpet under his arm, and Jim grasped the amulet tightly in his hand. With a nod to Princess Jasmine, and one last look at the faces of those four people, he twisted the dial.

The orb grew hot in his hand, and the chasm that opened the passageway into the dimensional vein appeared. Dimitri gripped Jim's arm tightly, and they were sucked in.

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Reviews, please? :D Tell me what you think... I'm a bit iffy on this chapter, so I need feedback! Thanks :)


	4. Chapter 4

... Uhh yeah. So I'm not dead, and I have been updating! Just not on this account... hehe. Um. So yeah. If you are wondering what happened to me/ this story or if you only follow me on this site, go check my account on deviantart (same pen name: Spottedleafpaw) to check if i've updated. I'll try to not be lazy and update here too from now on :) sorry guys. enjoy!

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Chapter 4

As they flew through the colours and images and feelings that was the dimensional vein, Jim and Dimitri both felt that extreme anxiousness that came along with their bodies hurtling through nothing and everything at the same time. What if they landed in a place that was another desolate, scarred world? Jim didn't think he could bear any more pain.

They were approaching another abrupt curve in the flow of the dimensions, and Jim was prepared to hurtle forward into it, and possibly get hurt in the aftermath. Yet he wasn't prepared for what came next. His solar surfer under his left arm, and his hand clutching the time-space device, he gripped Dimitri tightly with his other arm, and they plunged through the skin of another dimension.

The feeling of resurfacing from underwater came into play again, and as the hole closed up from behind them, they realized that they were hovering in midair above a lush green forest. Jim looked at Dimitri quickly, his fearful expression mirrored in his brother's eyes. They both let out a wail as gravity took hold and the trees came closer and closer. Suddenly, the rolled up green carpet Dimitri had tucked under his arm unfurled itself and scooped up the falling brothers just before they grazed the tops of the trees.

Jim and Dimitri, panting heavily, looked down in awe at the carpet, which was now gliding across the treetops smoothly. Jim's eyes nearly popped out of his head as the flying carpet floated towards a small gap in the trees, and then slowly descended into the small forest clearing.

"What the..." Dimitri's face once again resembled Jim's a little too closely, for as they hopped off the carpet is simply hovered there, an almost smug air coming off of it in vibes. Jim shook his head, for he had seen much stranger things. This had simply caught him by surprise. If he ever had the chance to meet Aladdin again, he'd have to thank him. That carpet had saved them from a nasty fall, and Jim did not feel like gaining more cuts to nurse.

He then took a look at his surroundings, as Morph emerged from his backpack. This world seemed less menacing, although the forest was beginning to feel a bit creepy as the sun creeped closer to the horizon. Morph obviously preferred it to the everlasting darkness of the Shadow World. The trees were calm, and very old and knotted, yet somehow Jim felt that they were surveying him, and it unsettled him greatly.

"Do you feel like we're being watched?" Dimitri whispered from the other side of the clearing, and Jim turned to look at him. He was brooding, staring at the trees intently as if he expected something to emerge at any moment.

"You took the words right out of my mouth" Jim replied, and focused on the gap between the trees that Dimitri was staring at. Strangely, it was the only one big enough for them to exit the clearing from, and Dimitri was slowly edging his way towards it, the carpet trailing after him like a puppy. Jim followed, and stood behind his brother, who was still fixated on something beyond the gap. Suddenly, he broke into a run, and Jim had no choice but to yelp in protest and follow.

He leaped over gnarled tree roots skillfully, and wished he could hop on his solar surfer, but he did not want to cause a forest fire. So he followed his brother, who suddenly jumped and tackled something, a something that gave off a girlish scream.

Jim caught up with his brother, who was now pinning a beautiful blonde woman underneath him. Jim's eves widened and a grin twitched at the corners of his lips, but at the blonde's frightened expression he suppressed it.

"What do you want with me! Let me go! I can't be here right now, leave me..." she began to wail, but Dimitri put a hand over her mouth.

"Why were you watching us? Who are you? And where are we?" he asked, in the least menacing voice he could muster, yet with enough power to compel her to answer. Her muffled cries died, and he removed his hand from her face.

"I saw you fall... I was walking through the woods back to my home, and I came over to see who you were. You are in the kingdom of King Stefan, and now would you please get off me, I have to go..."

"Who are you? And why are you in such a hurry?" Dimitri bit back. The girl flinched, and Jim saw a twinge of regret in his brother's eyes.

"I... My name is Aurora." She really was quite beautiful, Jim noticed. Her long, waist length blonde hair was wavy and curled at the ends, and her eyes were as blue and deep as sapphires. Her lips shamed the red rose, and her body... Jim had to look away and gulp. Dimitri was having the same problem. He took a shaky breath and stood up, helping her up. It was beginning to get darker, yet the sun had not hit the horizon yet. Aurora looked at it fretfully, and dusted herself off.

"Do you have somewhere to go?" she inquired. She still looked on edge, but Jim couldn't blame her. Dimitri had just tackled her to the ground, for goodness sake. Dimitri shook his head, and Aurora sighed and motioned for them to follow her. It was only then that Jim noticed that she was barefoot, yet her feet looked exceptionally clean. She seemed to radiate, her golden hair catching the fading sunlight as they hurried through the forest.

They reached a small cottage, nestled between a bunch of trees, and Aurora rushes inside, and motioned to the stairs.

"There's a bedroom upstairs, I'm sorry there's only one bed, but there are some thick blankets in the cupboard above the bed that you can put on the floor for one of you, and now," she looked at the window, and the sun was almost touching the treetops "if you'll excuse me, I'll see you in the morning." And with that she darted out the back door.

Jim scratched his head in confusion, and looked at Dimitri. His brother looked troubled, but also confused. He turned abruptly and went up the stairs, and Jim followed him. It ended up being Jim on the bed, which surprised him, and Dimitri on the floor. In an absolutely odd gesture, Dimitri insisted that Jim get the bed. Jim shrugged and lay his head down on the pillow. Before he drifted off into sleep, he noticed that the bed seemed to have been rarely used.

o.O.o.O.o

Dimitri awoke quite early, the dawn had barely finished its arrival upon the earth when his eyes opened. He sat up, looked over at his brother curled on his side and out cold. He smirked and pulled the blanket off of himself and stood up. He looked outside the window to notice Aurora walking swiftly back to the cottage. Dimitri felt himself bristle inside, and was shocked at this feeling. So she had pulled an all nighter? Why?

And as he caught himself asking his questions, he realized that he was being extremely odd, yet he couldn't put his finger on the reason why. Then he remembered he had dreamed about her last night, his subconscious filled with her golden hair and deep sapphire eyes, the feel of her small body under his, the way she looked up in fear at him and how awful it made him feel... And soon she was replaced with Anya, his girlfriend, the supposed woman he was going to marry. And those thoughts were bitter, sour, and unpleasant to him, while thinking of the beautiful creature that had just quietly opened the door below him made his chest swell.

This was impossible. He had barely spoken to her for all of fifteen minutes. Yet as the night had taken hold of his every thought, she had filled them completely. He let out a long breath of air, ran his fingers through his hair and made his way to the stairs.

Seeing her again made his heart speed up a bit, and although Anya buzzed menacingly in the back of his mind, he shut her out completely.

"Good morning," he said softly, not wanting to alarm her. "I hope you had a good evening." She turned to him in a little jump, but relaxed when she saw his calm face.

"It was as it always is" she said, and Dimitri pondered what that could mean. She had placed a plate of berries and bread in front of her, and she turned to make him some. "Sleep well?" she asked lightly, and he sat down.

"Too well. Those blankets are heavenly, thank you for letting us stay here" he said, and meaning it. He had almost too good a nights sleep, filled with images of a blond beauty.

"I'm glad they worked out. Where's your friend?" she asked, placing the plate in front of him. He popped a handful of berries in his mouth, which bursted into sweet flavor. He swallowed.

"Brother, actually. Jim's still asleep, who knows until he wakes up." She looked at him and sat also, but did not touch her food.

"I never got to know your name last night. I'm sorry I dashed off, but I was in such a hurry..." she said in a small voice. Dimitri slapped his forehead.

"Where are my manners! I'm Dimitri" he said with a small grin. She smiled back, and he thought there was an angel sitting across from him. Something must have shown in his face, for her face turned a bit pinkish and she turned to her plate.

"Dimitri. It's nice to meet you. May I ask why you are here?"

"It's kinda a long, crazy story" he said with a chuckle, yet in his eyes there was determination. She looked up at him.

"I've got time now."

By the time Jim came downstairs, their plates were clean and Aurora now knew of their quest to find Sarah, and she had agreed to assist as much as she could.

"Except at night. I have a place to be every night, and... well, please don't ask me about it until I'm ready to tell you" she had said, and Dimitri had nodded, graciously suppressing his curiosity in exchange for the smile he received from her.

o.O.o.O.o

Aurora proved to be an extremely useful aid in their search, for she knew of three short, squat peasant ladies who would be able to tell, thanks to Sarah's locket, if she had come to the dimension. They visited them a few days after their arrival, having to journey through the forest to another cottage.

Once they arrived and explained their predicament, the ladies had turned their backs to the boys with the locket in their hands, did some crazy thing that involved pink, green, and blue sparks, then faced them again with solemn expressions on their faces.

"She has not been here" the tallest one, wearing a red dress said. The other two nodded sadly, and Jim took the locket back.

"Thanks for trying, though" he said, and pocketed his mother's locket. He and Dimitri and Aurora returned to her cottage, and sat gloomily around the table until Aurora had to leave for her nightly outing. Dimitri's eyes darkened as she shut the door, and Jim noticed.

"Where does she go every night?" he asked, and Dimitri tensed.

"I don't know, but it's driving me crazy" he said, and turned to watch the sunlight vanish. When she returned the next morning, just after dawn, Dimitri began to notice a pattern, and one day around noon, and they were talking calmly outside under a tree he asked her about it.

"Are you ready to explain to me why you keep disappearing every night?" he asked quietly. She jumped a little, the small smile vanishing from her face.

"I suppose so" she began slowly, and gave him a pained look. "But I'm... not allowed to tell you the full story. So could you keep an open mind when I tell you?" she had inched closer to him, her blue eyes wide, and he gazed deeply into them and nodded.

"Every night, I have to leave and return to that clearing you first arrived at because as the sunlight vanishes, I dissipate into the air and take the sunlight with me. I become nothing. And each morning as the sun returns, I return as a mist, a part of the dawn, and then I can assume my human shape again. I was not born this way, though, I was cur-" she choked on her own words, and curled forward. Dimitri shot up and placed his hands on her back, and she leaned in to him.

They fell back on the grass, she turning her body to curl into his, almost as if she were seeking protection.

"It hurt much more this time. I suppose it's because I managed to say so much." She sighed, and only then realized where she was, and made to shoot up. But Dimitri cradled her in his arms, tightening his hold on her, and she relaxed.

"So you're cursed?" he spoke, tracing lazy circles on her back. She didn't speak, but she gripped his shirtfront tightly with a clenched hand. Dimitri guessed that he was correct. "Then it isn't your fault. How could I judge you badly for something you haven't done?"

He felt her take a deep breath. "It's for the reason I'm this way that I'd expect you to judge me" she began, and feeling no pain, continued. "You'd have to ask one of the three peasant ladies to explain it to you though, because I'm in no fit state to do that."

"The curse forbids you from speaking of it? That's some nasty curse. What did whoever cursed you have against you?" he asked, a twinge of anger creeping in his tone. She tensed, and said nothing. He stroked her hair, a brief flash of Anya's face passing through his brain before he mentally swatted it away.

"Why haven't you and Jim left for the next dimension yet?" she spoke suddenly, catching Dimitri off guard.

"Unfinished business" he stammered, not quite able to answer the question in its entirety. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm the one who is cursed. Would you mind telling me what this unfinished business is?" she asked. He took a deep breath, trying to rack his brain for a suitable answer. He wanted to help the beautiful girl in his arms, and he didn't want to leave until her predicament was solved. And if all went well, he wasn't so sure about leaving her behind after that.

"The truth is the best policy" she prompted him, bringing him out of his head. He nodded, and suddenly pulled her as close to him as she could get, tilted her head upward, and kissed her, Anya completely vanishing from his brain with an ugly sneer on her face.

Aurora gasped, but he remained steadfast and passionate, and she then melted into the kiss. He smiled against her lips, and then pulled away.

"And that's the truth" he murmured, and kissed her again.

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Review, my darlings! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Updating sprees are fun. :) I might take up the habit.. but nah. Don't count on it. If I updated this much all at once ever in the rest of my life I'd be surprised. :P Enjoy. It's a tad quick, but I got lazy. And I tried to cut down the gore, but I love me some blood & guts. So... have fun.

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Chapter 5

That evening, Jim came upon the other two inhabitants of the cottage and noticed a substantial change in their behaviors. They were constantly blushing and smiling at each other, and Jim was no idiot. When Aurora left the cottage at the usual time, Jim at once pummeled his brother with questions.

"Dimitri, you uh... seem different" he began. Dimitri looked over at him absently from the window.

"How so?" he asked dreamily, but then turning back to the fading light with a brooding glance.

"Well, first of all your acting like a lovesick ninny and I keep noticing that you and Aurora kept sneaking off to go make out or something. Seriously, dude. What about Anya?"

"Anya?"

"Yeah, your girlfriend? The sulky one?" Jim prompted him. Dimitri looked puzzled for a moment, then he comprehended what his brother was telling him. He shot up and looked at Jim full in the face, wild eyed.

"Oh my god. Well... Jim, what am i doing? I can't keep lying to myself. This is just crazy" he babbled, and Jim looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Ok, so you like Aurora a lot right?" he asked. Dimitri nodded his head vigorously. "You sure it isn't built up sexual tension?"

A pillow smacked Jim in the face. "Ok, fine. But you don't feel bad about Anya? I mean.. you've been together for a long time..." he asked, but secretly hoping Dimitri would forget about that snob.

"I've realized how many problems I have with her. We're always arguing. Aurora just brought all those problems to the surface. I don't want to think about Anya right now, or ever again really. If I have to face her, I will, but right now I'm going to focus on helping Aurora" he said, trying to reason it all out for himself as much as for Jim.

The latter nodded, accepting his brother's reasoning (he never liked Anya anyways), but remained in the dark on one subject.

"Help Aurora? Does this have to do with her nightly escapades?" he asked, and Dimitri nodded. Jim then sat down in a chair and folded his arms behind his head cockily.

"So, shoot. Tell me what the game plan is." Dimitri sighed.

"Game plan? What are you talking about now?"

"How we're going to get Aurora out of whatever trouble she's in. I can tell you're just dying to put on that shining armor." Dimitri glared at his little brother, but then launched in to an explanation of the curse.

o.O.o.O.o

That morning, before the dawn had fully arrived, Dimitri and Jim set out on the green flying carpet to the three peasant ladies' cottage. They landed just as the sun began to peek up from the horizon, and Dimitri rapped on the door frantically. He didn't want to be there too long, for Aurora might come home and find them gone.

There was some grumbling from behind the door and the shortest, squattest of the ladies, the one called Merryweather, opened the door. She jumped a little when she saw her guests.

"Flora! Fauna! It's the space cadets!" she yelled into the cottage, earning a scowl from Jim.

"I'm not a cadet, I'm a lieutenant!" he mumbled. Dimitri chuckled and followed Merryweather inside.

The other two were at the table, eating some biscuits and drinking morning tea.

"Oh hello dears!" Fauna, the green one, greeted them with an airy wave. "What can we do for you?"

"You can tell me about Aurora's curse."

The three ladies jumped a little in their skin, Fauna giving a little squeak and Merryweather choking on a biscuit.

"That is serious business, dear boys. Our Aurora can't even tell you herself, so are you sure you want to get involved in this?" Flora said, giving Dimitri a pointed look.

"Absolutely" he said, "and I'm going to help her."

Flora raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Finally, I couldn't stand that witch to possess her another moment!" she stated, earning a violent nod from Merryweather.

"I wish I could just turn her into an old pop toad!" she grumbled, munching on another biscuit. Flora ignored her and continued.

"This kingdom is plagued by an awful, horrible sorceress named Maleficent. She loves to create havoc and insert chaos wherever possible; I personally believe she is an agent of Evil. Aurora was cursed the day she entered one of Maleficent's visions. She was ten years old, and the crowned princess, King Stefan's only daughter. She was also betrothed," here she paused in amusement at Dimitri's sudden spasm of jealousy "to Prince Phillip, son of King Hubert, the neighboring kingdom's ruler."

"Aurora was seen in Maleficent's vision as a threat to everything that old witch had strived to create: complete chaos and discord. Unhappiness, anger, you name anything negative, you'd describe Maleficent's ideals of the world. However, Aurora would grow up and inspire hope and love in the people, for she already was a joy to behold. Maleficent saw the princess at all the future events of her life, how happy and joyful she would make the people of the kingdom, and she knew there was only one way to stop it from happening. A curse."

"And a tragic one at that" Fauna sighed, shaking her head sadly. Merryweather grumbled something unintelligible again.

"And so she placed the curse on Aurora, but how did that affect her life?" Jim asked, sneaking furtive looks at the plate of cookies and crackers.

"She would never be able to attend nightly events, such as balls and court dinners. And she would never be able to marry Phillip either, because weddings take place at sunset and certain expectations, such as heirs or children, could not be produced. She could pass on the curse to them, or something worse." Flora finished. Merryweather mumbled something through her biscuit.

"Speak up, dear, we can't understand a mumbler!" Flora quipped.

"I was just saying" Merryweather spat back "that Maleficent should be tossed right back under the ruddy rock she came from and squashed! That curse is a spiteful one. If Aurora was to kiss any male, she would turn into the dawn forever, never to be human again!"

"Of course there's the exception" Fauna interjected primly. "The kiss of her true love!"

Jim and Dimitri exchanged a glance before turning back to the three short ladies.

"And if one defeats this Maleficent... the curse would lift?" Dimitri asked tentatively. Flora nodded.

"Basic principles of magic, dear. If the caster of the curse is killed, normally the curse becomes obsolete. In this particular curse as well, due to the fact that Maleficent knows nothing of love, the fact that Aurora's one true love could kiss her and if she did not turn into mist it would prove that person to be the only one capable of lifting the curse entirely."

"Well, she hasn't turned into mist... so I guess I'm the one for the job" Dimitri spoke quietly, with an underlying confidence in his voice that did not match the shocked expression on his face.

"Well, that's wonderful! But, what's the matter, dear?" Fauna's exclamation was cut off as she noticed Dimitri's face.

"It's just that... I'm her true love. I can't believe it..." he ran his fingers through his short brown hair, that shocked expression turning giddy. Jim rolled his eyes.

"Well then. Now we're settled with that, I think it's time we headed back" he said, pointing to the sun, which was staring fully back at them from the fading pink of the sky.

o.O.o.O.o

When they had returned to the cottage, Aurora was walking towards it also from the opposite direction of the forest. Dimitri hopped off the carpet and ran towards her, catching her in his arms and whispering things to her that Jim could not hear. He also jumped off the green carpet and it hovered beside him. Jim ached to ride the winds on his solar surfer again, but couldn't risk it with so many trees around.

He walked over to the two lovers, and caught Aurora's worried look.

"But how is it possible... I can't let you do this. You'll get hurt, and it would be all my fault."

"I'm amazed at the amount of faith you have in me."

"It's not that! I..." she paused and looked at him pleadingly, "I just can't bear it if you got hurt, or worse..." he effectively shut her up with a kiss, and that ended the matter.

o.O.o.O.o

About an hour later, Dimitri and Jim had made plans to tackle the witch Maleficent. They were relying on her being unfamiliar to technology and weapons like laser pistols, and hopefully the element of surprise and distraction would allow for a quick shot to the head to knock her out. Aurora had told him the most certain way for the curse to lift was a sword through her heart, and once she was unconscious that would be no problem.

Jim, of course, was to be the distraction. Dimitri had told him to fly into her castle on his solar surfer (finally!) and cause as much havoc as possible, shooting and tossing detonators to overwhelm her, while Dimitri snuck up behind her and shot her in the back of the head with a laser.

They had to do this in the daylight, for if sundown approached and Aurora disappeared, who knows if they could get her back. Thus prepared, they set out to end the curse. They went to the clearing they had landed in when they arrived in this dimension and took off, Jim carefully maneuvering his surfer as to avoid catching any trees on fire. Loaded down with his backpack and Morph floating alongside him, he looked back at Dimitri sitting with Aurora on the carpet and they took off.

Jim stayed much further above the treetops than his brother and Aurora, and he sighed as he looked down on them holding each other and talking. He had to admit, he was a bit jealous and wished that a pretty girl like Aurora would ever look at him the way she was looking at Dimitri. He always got a girl, and Jim never had such luck.

As they left the forest behind them and approached the fields, Jim still remained much higher up than the two on the carpet, those green envious feelings simmering inside of him. He didn't feel like snapping at his brother, not now, and he couldn't trust himself to be silent.

"We're getting close!" Dimitri shouted up towards him, and Jim looked in the direction he pointed at. The sky seemed to darken as they reached the scraggly mountains that were home to Maleficent, and her castle rose higher than all of them, The Forbidden Mountain. Jim landed his surfer right below the beginnings of the rocks and hid behind it while his brother and Aurora got off the carpet.

"Aurora, I want you to wait here. Stay here, behind this rock, and wait for us."

"But I won't be able to know if you're ok! I.." Dimitri hushed her.

"Listen, if I take you in there with me, Maleficent will know you are there. And she'll stop at nothing, once she realizes what we plan to do, to get to you and kill you. That is not going to happen. Please stay here, for me. I'll feel so much better if I know you're safe."

"I won't feel safe sitting behind a rock waiting for you!" she countered, and at the pained look on Dimitri's face, she sighed and leaned against the rock. He gave her a small smile, and kissed her passionately before standing and making his way over to the carpet. He and Jim the looked at each other.

"Good luck, bro" Dimitri said. Jim nodded and hopped on the solar surfer, quietly guiding it up the mountain and hiding behind rocks and carved gargoyles when he could. He wanted to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible. Dimitri followed on the carpet, waiting a bit further behind Jim. He would give Jim about forty-five seconds before creeping in and locating Maleficent.

Jim reached the castle itself, and hovered next to the first window he saw. There were a couple of little beasties he assumed were the guards asleep here and there along the floor. It was only a corridor, however, not the throne room. 'Castles have throne rooms, right?' He thought to himself. 'What about evil castles? Who knows?'

He continued hovering and glancing through windows and all he noticed were odd rooms with nothing too special except their super creepiness, and thus he continued looking. Suddenly, he found it. This window, the only one with an arched shape, looked down upon what seemed to be a circular fire pit. Green flames danced in it, and a horde of little guards were snoozing around it. Looking down from a pedestal behind it, in a carved grey throne, was Maleficent herself. She looked like an elegant, horned vampire with her black flowing dress and curved horns. She literally sucked the happiness from Jim as he looked at her.

He turned around and saw Dimitri crouching behind a gargoyle on the carpet , and so he motioned to the window and then made a swooping motion with his arm, signaling Dimitri that directly opposite this one, and conveniently behind Maleficent's throne, was another window. Dimitri held his thumb up to signify he understood, and Jim then reached into his pockets and pulled out the pistol and detonators. He took a deep breath, and revved up the engine of his surfer.

He blasted through the window at full speed, dropping the nova detonators directly into the fire. Maleficent had barely time to look up when the blast went off, shooting sky high and in all directions, consuming the sleeping guards. Jim had swerved to the wall, as far away from the fire as possible, and used Morph as a shield from some of the flames that tried to catch him. Morph simply ate the fire like it was candy.

Maleficent had stood up from her throne in shock and reached for her staff. Jim shot the pistol at it, and it cracked the staff in two. Now enraged, Maleficent picked up the half with the orb on it and aimed it at Jim, shooting green flames at him which he swerved to avoid.

"Don't try to eat those, Morph!" he called, and the little blob closed his maw.

He shot at her again, this time barely missing the top of her head. He had to keep her from seeing Dimitri enter from behind her, or else the plan was gone.

"How dare you destroy my lair!" she hissed at him, and Jim spared her only one second before firing again. She retaliated. He continued to fly in front of her, for he saw Dimitri through the window, pointing the other pistol at Maleficent from behind.

Suddenly a black crow came out of nowhere and screeched as it flew at Dimitri, knocking his pistol from his hand. Maleficent whirled around and summoned Dimitri inside with a pull of her magic. He hit the ground and rolled off the carpet, which Maleficent promptly set fire to. Jim cruised down and hopped off his surfer, stomping out the flames as Dimitri struggled to get up.

"I know why you are here" maleficent intoned acidly. "One of you seeks the affections of Aurora, and to have her you must defeat me. You are pathetic creatures, for I have already bested you" she cackled, and suddenly Jim and Dimitri surged forward and were forced to their knees in front of her by an invisible hand.

"You will never have her" she began, looking at each of them in turn, before smiling cruelly as she began to change form. Her skin started to change from pale gray to black, and her face was elongating to the maw of a dragon. Dimitri suddenly pulled a dagger out of his pocket and surged forward at her, driving the dagger deep into her chest.

"Here's a curse: may you never breathe again" he spat, withdrawing the dagger from her chest. Ruby red blood spurted from the wound, and it slid down from the dagger's point onto the floor. Maleficent, mid transformation, let out a wail that made parts of the castle crumble and fall. She scrabbled at her wound fretfully, but the blood seemed to increase and spew at an inhuman rate, even spattering Dimitri's shirt. She sank to her knees, and a puddle of blood began to form around her. Finally, with a final choke from her distorted face, she collapsed. She began to dissolve in her own blood, turning into a black, inky substance that mingled eerily with the red.

Dimitri sank to his knees, this time by his own free will, and stared at the dagger. The good peasant ladies had given it to him right before their departure that morning, and it was a beautiful one at that. Silver and extremely thin and long, the dagger had a ruby encrusted hilt with a curious symbol embedded in the largest ruby. It looked like an X, except more like two quick slashes crossing in the middle. Now the dagger was covered in blood, blood that matched the red rubies, and Dimitri wiped it off on his already bloody shirt.

"You did it."

Jim was staring at the Maleficent puddle on the ground with a revolted look on his face, but the support and pride for his older brother could be heard in his voice. Dimitri smiled.

"Thanks, bro. Let's get out of here."

Jim hopped back on his surfer and flew out the window, the sun nearing the horizon, and Dimitri grabbed his fallen pistol and ran over to the carpet. It was only a little charred in a corner, and Dimitri patted it affectionately.

"You did good, carpet." The carpet responded by rushing off the ground a little quicker than usual, and Dimitri chuckled. They reached the place where Aurora was sitting and she let out a gasp of happiness and shock at the blood on Dimitri's shirt. She hurtled into his arms before he had even descended from the carpet, and as the sun set behind her she remained the same for the first time in years.

* * *

Once again.. Review! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Woo for another update! :P Oh and don't hate me too much for the content of this chapter. It had to be done (I'm not a sadist! I will fix things! Don't worry.) Ahem. [Try] to enjoy.

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Chapter 6

As their journey progressed, the two brothers found themselves now in the company of Aurora, who absolutely refused to be left behind (and Dimitri wouldn't have allowed it either), was now the fourth slot in their dimensional device's transportation numbers. They progressed to the next dimension after tearful goodbyes from the three peasant ladies, who, as it turned out, were actually fairies. It seemed like these dimensions couldn't help getting more and more far fetched.

At first, Jim was reluctant to have Aurora along, whether it be that he was simply worried that they would have to protect her from who knows what considering her rather vulnerable nature, or the remnants of that festering green jealousy he felt at seeing his brother so happy, he did not know. They were on a mission to find their mother, for crying out loud. There was no need for more complications that could drag the success of their mission down; Jim had even gone so far one evening before their departure as to snap at Dimitri, asking him why didn't he remain in his dream cottage with his dream girl where all their problems could go away while Jim continued with the important stuff, only to earn a scathing glance from Dimitri and a bop upside the head.

However, having Aurora along as they mad their way through dimension after dimension seemed to increase their luck, and also improved the cooking by a great standard, and Jim began to regret not wanting her along. She even managed to get them out of a sticky situation at a pub filled with strange beings of all sorts, some seemingly fashioned out of trees or ice, others looking like mouldy trolls and pirates. Her interventions, however, occasionally attracted the attentions of some less than noble characters, causing the group to vacate the dimension they were in as quickly as possible.

They were able to move this quickly because each time they entered a dimension, Sarah's locket would grow warm in Jim's hand and give out a faint pulse, as if searching for her, and then go cold. Jim supposed that this had to do with the tinkerings of the three fairies in Aurora's land, for it never used to do that. It proved to be useful, and Jim was grateful they didn't have to spend too much time in the odd places they ended up. He was beginning to feel a great homesickness, the desire to go out on another journey on a ship like the RLS Legacy simply overwhelming him. Yet they had a job to do, and finding their mother was paramount to any glorious ship.

And so they pressed on.

o.O.o.O.o

They landed, once again, in the midst of a battle. The only difference was that they could see what was happening this time, and it helped them find cover quickly.

"Anyone shot?" Dimitri asked as they hid behind a bush. No one screamed in agony, so he turned his gaze back to the violence around him.

Arrows and flashes of light flew this way and that across the sparse prairie on which the battle was taking place. A few bushes and a few more trees were scattered across it, but what truly dominated the scene were the people fighting.

They seemed to be native people of some type; they were roguish and only wearing cloth coverings around their lower sections. They had odd, long faces with many piercings and bones sticking through various bits of skin. They were adorned in brilliantly colored war paint, curious designs traced in a manner that seemed to be almost branded into their dark skin. The paint was not one fixed colour, and it swirled and pulsed ad glittered across their bodies. Dimitri could not tell the differences between the two sides, except that the tribal tattoos on one gave off a more bluish color while the others sported an almost indigo hue.

Their arms and legs were exceedingly thin, yet they were composed of sinew and muscle, not just skin and bone. Their bows were about as tall as themselves, and the arrows were almost as long. Each arrow was crafted to sail through the air as quick as a wink, and slice through whatever it hit so quickly that the victim would scarcely feel a thing. Hardly any were making noise as they fell; they simply dropped to the ground, gasping in pain. They fired jets of light from their hands alternately with the shooting of their arrows; the light momentarily stunned the opponent as the arrow shot towards its victim.

Dimitri was positive some of those fighters had seen them, and they did not seem very friendly. A few were beginning to drift over towards where they hid, still shooting arrows at the opposite side. Dimitri held Aurora to him behind the bush as Jim held onto the locket, waiting to see if their mother could be found here.

"Hurry, we need to get out of here" Dimitri warned his brother, who glanced over at him with an irritated glare.

"No, I'd like to stay for tea if you don't mind" he snapped, just as the locket grew cold in his hand "And we can leave, she's not here."

Dimitri linked arms with Jim, who was about to twist the dial on the device. It began to glow its familiar orange. The next three things all occurred at the same instant: Jim twisted the dial, a whoosh, then a gasp was heard. As they melted through the layer of this violent dimension's skin and entered the inter-dimensional vein, hurtling forward and through the next layer, toppling onto a grey, rocky mountaintop, Jim heard Dimitri scream.

Aurora was lying in his brother's arms, a ghastly pale look on her agonized face, the head of one of those enormous arrows portruding from her chest, glistening with her blood. She was making frantic gasps of pain and panic, staring wildly around her.

"Aurora! Oh, god... Aurora! Stay calm, I'm going to fix this!" Dimitri's voice was agonized.

"Dimitri, oh it hurts, make it stop... Please," she begged "it's going all through me! It's burning! Oh god, Dimitri!" she wailed, and Jim was horrified to see her rosy color begin to grey, as if something had gotten into her blood and was twisting through her veins and burning everything in its path.

The arrows were poisoned.

Dimitri was shaking, trying to stop Aurora's body from convulsing.

"Jim! Get my dagger and cut off the arrow head!" he yelled. Jim was baffled.

"What? If you pull out the arrow, she'll just..."

"Shut up! Just do it!" Dimitri roared, looking like a feral beast about to rip out Jim's throat. Jim reached into Dimitri's bag and pulled out the dagger. As his brother pinned her down, Jim sliced the arrow head from the arrow and tossed it to the ground. Then cautiously and carefully, Dimitri lifted Aurora's body from the stick and Jim pulled it free. She began to bleed freely, and Dimitri instantly tried to smother it with her shirt, but it seeped through.

He was crying now, blindly scrabbling for her life as the color drained from her. She was thrashing and screaming much less, and finally she stopped, and she looked at Dimitri and smiled a dazzling smile, even in death.

"I love you," she whispered, as he leaned toward her and placed a tearful kiss on her pale lips "and don't forget it." And with that she stilled. Dimitri began to howl mercilessly, and Jim looked at the sorrowful figure of his brother and became void of all emotion save pity. Love caused so much pain, was it really worth it? He suddenly felt much less jealous of his brother, and much more estranged. He had never felt as much pain as his brother was experiencing right now, and he did not know what to think of it all. Morph, emerging from his backpack, cooed softly in sadness by his ear.

Suddenly, something changed in Aurora. Jim was wondering if he was seeing things, but it seemed as if she was slowly fading. Dimitri noticed as well, and grasped at his lover's disintegrating body. Yet soon, Aurora began to fade into wisps of glowing light, which pulsated feebly in the gray contrast of their mountainous surroundings. They began to float away with the wind. Dimitri roared in anguish.

"Morph! Catch her!" Jim yelled, and the little pink blob sped over to the glowing wisps of dawn, turned into a glass jar and swallowed them. He then floated back over to Dimitri and landed in his lap. Dimitri picked up the jar and stared at the pinkish glowing dawn it encased. He hugged it to his chest, and more sobs racked his body.

Jim wondered how his grown brother could be capable of such sobs, for he certainly had never been sad enough as a grown person to cry like this. He also chided himself for not being as compassionate as he should be in a time like this, and he wondered why he was not as upset as he should feel at Aurora's death. He had tried to block all feeling for her since she was the embodiment of his jealousy for a while, and he supposed that was why he wasn't as upset. But Dimitri was, and Dimitri needed comfort.

"Hey, we need to leave this place. Mom isn't here" he lied, not really knowing, but feeling a certainity that she wasn't. He just needed to get Dimitri away from the place of her death.

Lifting his haggard face to face his brother, Dimitri nodded. Jim gathered his surfer under his arm as Dimitri tucked the Morph jar safely into his backpack and picked up the carpet. Arms linked, for a moment Jim felt as if they were just leaving for the first time on their quest, and then realized how far they had come from that departure. Dimitri's bitter demeanor radiated this change, and Jim wasted no time in twisting the dial. They sunk through the grey rock and into the vein, hurtling through everything once more.

They landed in a cold shock of blue, crystal ocean.

o.O.o.O.o

Loaded down as they were, it was an effort for them to reach the glimmering surface and gasp for air. But they managed, and there they remained, Jim holding his surfer high above his head while Dimitri did the same with the carpet.

"Now what?" he griped at Jim, who was kicking frantically to keep his head above the water.

"No idea" he shot back, "but if I could somehow get on my surfer I could fly to shore" he said, tilting his head in the direction of a sandy beach.

"And until that happens? We float here until we drown?" Dimitri asked sarcastically.

As Jim was about to answer, he noticed something not too far off in the water from where they were. It was a large something, from the looks of it a ship.

"We wait for that" Jim answered, as the ship drew closer to them.

"Man overboard!" someone called from on deck, and Jim suddenly grew excited. Although it was nothing like an air ship, it was the closest thing he had seen to a ship in a long time.

The ship reached where they floated, and some sailors lowered the lifeboat so that Jim and Dimitri could climb into it. As he clambered over the edge, Jim caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He turned toward a black, scraggly rock that jutted up from the ocean floor. Nothing. He shook his head and pulled Dimitri aboard. They were hoisted up, and they hopped on deck to face a charming young man with black hair smiling at them, a look of concern on his face.

"Are you boys alright?" he asked.

"Just soaked, s'all." Jim replied, wringing salt water out of his jacket.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I'm Eric" he said, extending his hand to both.

"Jim."

"Dimitri."

Eric nodded at each, and then turned to a sailor.

"Let's turn around and go home. I'm sure these guys need to wash and eat something." The sailor nodded and called instructions to the others.

"You'll have to stay with me and my wife, Odette. We'll get you cleaned up and fed, and then you can tell me your story."

"Thanks, appreciate it." Jim said, and nudged a sullen Dimitri. He had relapsed into sulking and being upset now that he wasn't flailing for his life in the ocean.

"Oh, thanks" he muttered, and Eric raised an inquisitive eyebrow as Jim shook his head meaningfully. Eric got the message and didn't press it, but the curious looks never left his face.

As they sailed on towards Eric's home, Jim felt the sun on his face and the solid wood of the ship under his boots, and despite the dire occurrences, cracked a smile.

o.O.o.O.o

Somewhere, deep beneath the surface of the ocean, in a glittering palace of gold turrets and shining stone, an elated voice sang out in an absolutely exceptional voice.

"I've found him!"

* * *

... *ducks rotten fruit

I'm sorry! :( I hated to do it, but it's wrong to ignore one's gut feeling/muse/flow of the story... whatever. PS: those were NOT Avatar people. No Na'avi make appearances in this story. Even I don't know what those natives are... I'll try to include a development of their peoples if possible (later on!). If not they will remain a mystery :P

Also... OMG ARIEL?

Review! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Well hey there, guys. Please don't murder me. My excuses are these: I was on vacation with no computer for 2 months -.- and thus updating was impossible. Without further ado, here is chapter 7! :)

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Chapter 7

King Triton, ruler of the seven seas (also an important member of the river and lake board of trustees) was, in a word, exhausted. Being royalty, of course, had its perks, but the workload that accompanied it was definitely taxing, and he had yet to have a good night's rest for the past month. What with organizing the changing temperatures of the oceans, as summer was rolling around, the trafficking of fish migration patterns from the coasts to the deeper waters, tracking the tides and their increasing measurements, and to top it off planning a speech for the Intermarinal Regents Assembly for that season, the aging king had a lot on his plate.

And there was, of course, the issue of his daughters. Almost all of them were ready to either marry, become betrothed, or brought up in discussions with other rulers to discuss betrothals. The King already had his first two daughters, Attina and Alana ready to marry at a moment's notice; he had arranged Attina to marry the son of the neighboring city's regent, to keep her close as she was next in line for the throne. Alana was engaged to the son of the Northern Ocean's regent.

Adella and Aquata, his next daughters, were betrothed to the sons of the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea's regents, and the king was prepared to negotiate a betrothal of his next two daughters Arista and Andrina at the upcoming meeting. Hopefully the regents of the Southern Atlantic and Southern Pacific would be agreeable. If all went well, the king mused, then all he would have left was Ariel.

Ariel. His youngest, and most troublesome daughter. King Triton knew that finding her a suitable husband would be extremely difficult, for unlike her sisters she would definitely speak out against each and every one he proposed to her. Of course, he'd let her choose. He let all of the girls choose their ideal husband; he wasn't _that_ much of a dictator. The only one he'd asked to remain close, in the Mediterranean, was Attina. But that was for ruling purposes, and she had graciously accepted her father's choice.

Ariel, on the other hand, would be much more choosy. Her head was always above the surface, dreaming, never paying attention to what was going on under the waves _where it belonged_. She had this odd fascination with... dare he think it, humans, and the king was at his wit's end. Currently sitting upon his throne, thinking, he hoped that she would not take their previous conversation to heart.

They had been in this very room, about five days ago, discussing her options for betrothal. At 16, she was now eligible to be promised to a royal merman that her father saw fit, and although the father in question personally still felt as if his daughter was much too young (he always felt that way about Ariel), he was discussing the options with her to get them out of the way. He proposed another Mediterranean city, North from Atlantica, yet somewhere close to him and not too far from Attina. He felt safer knowing that she was close, and hoped she would accept his plan...

"_Daddy, you know I don't like those people in the North. They're so snooty, they make my fins tense. Besides, aren't you sending Attina to marry a Northern merman?" she frowned, and the king sighed._

"_Yes Ariel, she is going to be close to Atlantica, but you know the reasons. She is next in line for the throne and needs to be close to take over if the need presents itself" the old king explained, tiredly, to his daughter._

"_Well then, you already have a daughter close to you. You don't need me here, especially if you think I need to be close by just because I'm the youngest!" she retorted, crossing her arms across her chest. The king scratched his head; she figured _that _out pretty quickly._

"_Well" he began, defeated a little, "where else would you like to go?" he asked, not knowing any other way of approaching the subject without provoking anger from both his daughter and himself. He regretted the words when he saw his daughter's eyes light up (although it was nice to see them so filled with hope; King Triton hadn't seen her happy in a while) and her gaze shift towards the surface._

"_You know where I'd like to go, Daddy. Up there! With _them!_" she said, reverently. The king immediately began to bristle, but she cut him off._

"_Daddy, I know you hate them, but for what reasons? Just because some bad ones caused the accident?" she chose her words carefully, not wanting to provoke his anger any more than it already had been. "There are bad souls everywhere, human or mer. Do you honestly think that I would choose a bad person to love? How could I love someone with cruelty in their hearts?" she asked._

"_All humans are cruel" the king spat back, knowing that his daughter's words held most truths, but the habit was hard to kick. Ariel gave him a look, one that reminded him greatly of his wife, before sighing in exasperation._

"_You are too prejudiced! You don't want to even give them a chance!" she argued._

"_No, I don't! They are responsible for what happened!" the king countered, gripping his trident angrily._

"_No, not all humans are responsible for mom's death! Only that one ship, that one crew of people. And they didn't even know it! You can blame that one ship all you want, but you can't blame the whole race! _That_, Daddy, is cruel!" she said, fiercely so that her fiery hair danced around her and made her much more imposing._

_The king, taken aback by his daughter's reasoning, sat in silence for a moment. _

"_Ariel, would life away from your family, away from everything you've known truly make you happy?" the king asked quietly. _

"_Daddy, you know I love you and my sisters. You know I love Atlantica and the ocean, but it's given me all it can offer. I want something new, an adventure, something that can give me a place in the world that does not force me to be the wife of some noble who I probably won't love. I know it's not what I'm meant to do. Daddy, trust me. I know myself better than anyone, and that is what I want" she replied, a vigor and desire so strongly lacing her words that the king finally gave in._

"_Ariel, you know how protective I am of you. I can't just let you go wandering around the human world without knowing your purpose and without having a set goal. I'd be willing to consider this arrangement if, and only IF, you find yourself a suitable companion to accompany you in the human world. Find that human that you plan to be with for the rest of your life, and I'll consider your request" the king said, hiding a smile as he saw the absolute euphoria erupt onto Ariel's features. _

"_Oh thank you Daddy! Thank you!" she cried, swimming over to give him a hug before dashing out of the throne room singing happily, presumably to find Flounder._

Thinking back, King Triton wished he had never uttered these words. What was he thinking, letting his daughter go to the surface? The accident could happen all over again! He sighed and put his face in his hands. She was probably up there now, doing Neptune knows what.

"Daddy! You won't believe the good news!"

Triton looked up; Ariel was swimming towards him with Flounder and Sebastian right behind her. She had one of the most beautiful, ecstatic expressions on her face, and the king couldn't help but smile.

"What is it, Ariel?" he asked, leaning back in his throne. She took a deep breath, then it all gushed out.

"I've found him! The human! The one you said I could marry!" she began. Before the king's face turned too red, she hurried out the rest. "He's handsome, and tall, and adventurous, and he seems so nice! Daddy, he's perfect! I'm sure you'll like him!"

The king was startled and concerned at this outburst, giving his daughter that look which usually made the receiver cower in fear. "You found him so quickly?" he asked sternly.

"Yes, Daddy! I know it seems hard to believe, but it was like a dream! I was sunbathing on a large rock up at the surface, kinda close to the palace up there, you know? Don't worry, I was well hidden!" she interjected, noting the look of upset on her father's face.

"Anyway, I was sitting there talking to Flounder, Scuttle and Sebastian about things, and hoping that I wouldn't have to look long for _the one_... I wished to Neptune with all my might that he would just... You know, fall into place! Just sorta appear and be everything I'd hoped for!"

The king smiled at the look on his daughter's face. He knew what a dreamer she was, and as much as he thought that dreaming wasn't sensible, Ariel wouldn't be _Ariel _if she didn't dream.

"And that's when it happened! Daddy, it was like magic! Two men suddenly appeared a few feet above the water and they crashed into it! I hid behind the rock, but I kept watching them to see what they would do; they swam up to the surface again and that's when I saw him! He was holding this odd contraption that Scuttle called a yurdlehop! He was handsome, and brave, and he looked like he had been on so many adventures! Then a ship came by and picked them up, and I swam right back here to tell you! Oh, Daddy, it was just as if my wish had come true!" she finished. Throughout her story, she had twirled and made excited hand gestures to illustrate her enthusiasm.

King Triton, on the other hand, was less than excited. Appeared out of nowhere and with strange contraptions that seemed less than human? If he knew any better, these newcomers weren't from this dimension. Allowing Ariel to visit the surface was one thing, but supposing she went dimension hopping instead? He'd never see his daughter again! Keeping his temper in check as best he could, he gazed at her sternly as she waited for his verdict.

"Ariel, these individuals sound dangerous. And not in the way humans are dangerous. I'm going to be honest with you so you don't go off and do something stupid: _that _is how serious this is" he began. He hated the look of dread on her face, but this was necessary.

"These men sound like dimension travelers. People not from this world. I don't want you getting mixed up with them, it's far too dangerous."

"But Daddy! What if you're wrong! They might not be! And you promised me you would let me choose someone for myself!" Ariel desperately argued.

"I know what I might have said, Ariel, but listen to me. I am only concerned for your safety. I don't want you getting hurt, and I don't want to never see you again!" he spoke firmly. Ariel seemed to deflate at this, and she rushed forward to hug him tightly.

"Daddy, you know I love you and my sisters and Atlantica, and the life I've had here" she began, then releasing him to look at him in the eyes. "But this portion of my life is over. Seeing that boy made me feel something new, something I've never felt before and that I doubt I'll feel ever again unless he's with me. I want to explore new things, and for some reason I feel that he would be there by my side throughout it all" she said, speaking with feelings rather than words in a way.

Triton was impressed with her maturity, and scared finless by her revelation. Those emotions sounded pretty much like love to him, and he was fairly put out by her choice. But he knew that if he denied her this, she would never forgive him. He would lose all love she had for him, and that was something he couldn't bear. Looking at her hopeful face and wide, scared eyes, he knew what must be done.

"Ariel, I've decided to grant your wish."

o.O.o.O.o

Ariel smiled at her sisters one final time before swimming to the sand. She pulled herself out of the water and curled her tail (which was much heavier out of the water!) so that it was no longer touching the softly rolling waves. Her father gave her one last look, one that spoke volumes. She simply smiled again and nodded. With that, he pointed the Trident at her and the golden magic flew towards her, enveloping her in warmth.

She felt a tingling sensation in her tail, and then the feeling split into two. She gasped as the feeling returned to her, and suddenly she was sitting on two _legs_ instead of a tail. She squealed in joy, flexing her toes and calling out thanks to her father. She realizes that she was practically nude, however, and asked for something to cover herself in. Her father waved the trident again and a pile of human clothes appeared. Underwear, a puffy white shirt, pants and shoes. She smiled gratefully and spent the better of ten minutes attempting to pull everything on correctly. When she was finished, Sebastian had crawled forward and motioned for her to listen.

"Ok, here's what we gonna do, chile. Dat boy of yours is stayin' with the royals up at de palace, so de dolphins reported. De king says dat de only way fo you to get into dat palace is fo you to pretend to be a shipwrecked girl near dat palace. De king is gonna bring an ole wreck from de bottom back to de surface a few ways out. You gotta pretend dat you swam all de way from dat wreck and dat you's de only survivah. Got dat, chile?" he finished authoritatively. "Den you know howta do de rest. Make dat boy fall for you mighty quick, ok?" he said and winked. Ariel laughed and smiled at the little crab.

"Will you stay close to me until that happens? I don't know much about humans and I need someone to guide me" she whispered to him. The crab chuckled and scuttled onto her outstretched hand.

"Wouldn't be dreamin' of anyting else" he spoke, perching himself on her shoulder.

With one last parting look at her sisters and father, she waved and began to walk on the sand towards the castle's beaches.

* * *

YAY ARIEL 3

She's finally here! :) But don't for a second expect this to be a simple union with Jim. Yes, her father was pretty helpful and it might seem that things can only go well from here.. But I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. BUT DO NOT DESPAIR. Would I be a good Ariel/Jim fan if they didn't end up together (eventually)? ;)

We'll be seeing Jim and Dimitri again next chapter. Sorry this was was somewhat short, but I felt like you guys deserved an update!

SIDE NOTE: I think of Triton as more overprotective rather than a mean father. I know he restricts Ariel from doing what she wants, but in the end he really wants what is best for her and what will ultimately make her happy. So please don't bash my Triton XD

On that note, review please :)


	8. Chapter 8

So yeah. Hey and all that.

I am in fact alive and have not dropped off the face of the earth like many people most likely thought. I actually have a somewhat decent explanation for everything... Basically I got into a horrible car wreck and broke my arm, and had to go through a few months of physical therapy (and mental therapy) because it's a miracle that I managed to come out of that thing alive. And then of course came college stuff, since I fell way behind in everything...

And then came the three jobs that I acquired after everything came through. I currently still hold these jobs, too, which says something about me I suppose. It also adds to my busy life!

Relationship drama also decided to enter the picture; long story short, as of now I'm in a long-term committed relationship with a man that I love dearly, but this of course takes up a lot of my energy and I honestly don't mind at all :)

I will say this, however. I'm hoping to be able to update Between Galaxies much more regularly. (waits for the noise to die down) Hope this is somewhat appreciated, I know that it's been a ridiculous amount of time but now I finally have some sort of organization in my life.

Let me know if you have any comments, questions, rants, the like. I probably deserve some yelling xD But I'll be updating the story soon so that should placate the masses I hope.

I will mainly be focusing on this story and perhaps one or two more in the meantime. This one for sure, though.

* * *

Chapter 8

Jim awoke that morning due to a large dog licking his face enthusiastically.

"Hey, hey, hey! Whassamatter?" he mumbled sleepily; the sunlight was streaming pleasantly through the window and Jim ran his fingers through his hair as he sat up, holding the dog, Max, down from his face with a chuckle.

Today, Eric had promised him another outing on the ship; they would be going fishing. Jim normally wouldn't have stayed this long in a dimension, but when they fell into the water he suspected that the Inter-Dimensional device had gotten wet. It wouldn't stop sparking weirdly, and he would have to make sure it was working properly before they could travel again.

He climbed out of bed with a groan, searching for a cleanish shirt in his bag while Max jumped at his heels wagging his tail and panting. As he rummaged in his bag, he thought back to Dimitri. His brother was not coping very well at the loss of Aurora; he had become almost catatonic, only answering with single word responses when directly asked a question, or erupting into a snappy outburst all of a sudden when Jim prodded him too much.

This was the scene at dinner last night, for as Jim attempted to make up for his brother's behavior, Dimitri simply dug the hole deeper. He refused to be without the little jar that was Morph carrying Aurora's mist. It was always in his jacket's large pocket, a noticeable bulge that no one questioned since everyone was afraid of him.

Jim finished dressing with a sigh, and exited his room with Max to go get some breakfast. He passed Dimitri's room quickly, trying to avoid hearing the quiet sobs coming from inside that tugged at Jim's heartstrings. He knew it was best to avoid his brother for now.

He reached the kitchen and smiled at Eric, Odette, and Grimsby who were all just sitting down to eat.

"Jim! So glad you're awake, I was just about to send someone for you" Eric said with a friendly gesture. Jim sat down across from Odette, who smiled warmly at him.

"I trust you slept well?" she asked, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. Jim took the coffee pot from its warmer and poured himself a cup; black and strong, just perfect to wake him up fully.

"It was great. Never slept in a better bed" he said, and this was true. He was used to the childhood bed he occupied at the Benbow until he moved in with Dimitri in the city; both those beds were suitable, but definitely not as comfortable as the one in Eric's palace.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm gathering that Dimitri is unfit for breakfast?" she said in a low voice. Jim nodded solemnly, and piled some eggs and bacon onto his plate awkwardly. That was the amazing thing about Odette, she was extremely perceptive and empathetic.

When Jim first met her the evening before, she was warm and kind and everything Jim had always pictured an older sister to be. Eric simply adored her, and told Jim that Odette had made a fool out of him the first time they had met. She had apparently called him out on his attempts to charm her due to her looks alone; he was baffled by this behavior, not expecting her to be so intelligent (for most women he had courted were a bunch of 'idiotic ninnies' as Odette put it). So baffled, in fact, that in his shock he remained dazed and rooted to the spot, ignoring the fact that Louie the chef was rolling out the suckling pig...

"_...And after the collision the apple landed in my mouth! You can imagine the nicknames after that..." Eric said, grinning at Odette who was smiling softly and shaking her head. Dimitri was the only one not cracking a smile._

Jim snorted at the memory, shoveling eggs into his mouth as Odette and Eric smirked at one another. He was of course concerned for Dimitri, but he was at a loss for what to do to fix things. He couldn't always fix everything, and it upset him greatly that it was something so important that needed mending.

After that, breakfast was a relatively quiet affair. Grimsby was making suggestions about which parts of the coast to avoid, informing them that several wrecks occurred repetitively around the west bay from the coast. Jim thought that was odd, since they had landed around that area yesterday and from what he saw the ocean seemed clear and absolutely devoid of rocks to wreck on.

"We'll be careful, Grimsby. Honestly, if you're so worried, why don't you just come along yourself?" Eric said teasingly.

"You know I would if I hadn't so many papers and _duties_ that need attending to" he said pointedly, but Eric waved him off.

"Grim, I always get things done. We'll be back in well enough time for my princely duties this afternoon" he said, and then got up with a look to Jim. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go" Jim replied, smiling as Eric kissed Odette on the cheek before turning to walk out of the room. Jim followed with a wave to her before catching up with Eric's long strides to the entrance hall.

o.O.o.O.o

The salty spray and cool breeze ruffling his hair was starting to grow on him. It was a completely different experience from the ships he was used to back on Montressor, but it was oddly enjoyable. The process of fishing itself, however, was another matter altogether.

The smell was _horrible_. Plus the fish looked so terrified and as they gasped for oxygen Jim was pained to watch such a spectacle, resulting in Eric laughing at him and teasing him for having a weak stomach.

"This little guy won't hurt you. Or maybe not, he might be fishzilla!" Eric cackled, shoving a large blue fish in Jim's face.

"Bleah, get that away from me! Poor little guy," he said, staring at the wide-eyed and struggling fish. "He looks so desperate" he murmured, looking out at the ocean where the fish belonged.

He wondered if his mother was on this planet,. If she was, it would make Jim happy. He liked this world, because he didn't feel like too much an outsider here. He was accepted and he was having fun; he wasn't questioned by authorities and he wasn't having to prove himself correct all the time.

There were downsides, however. Dimitri's depression, for one, but also Jim's worry that they would be found out sooner or later. He had only just managed to come up with a suitable cover story last night at dinner; he didn't know how long it would be before their story checked out. He had gotten the vibe that these people were much less advanced in science and technology than he was, and that knowledge of where Jim and Dimitri were from would possibly subject them to horrifying scientific experiments and the like.

No, it was best to lie low.

Jim snorted when he saw that Eric was steering them towards the western coast. Eric caught his eye and grinned at him mischievously. Jim turned away laughing and went to lean on the side of the ship. As he was looking at the rolling waves and the rocky coast off in the distance, he noticed a peculiar black mass seemingly not made of rock coming out of the water. He squinted in attempt to see it better.

"What the..."

It was a ship! A wrecked ship, potruding off of the scraggly rocks and in pretty bad shape.

"Eric! Eric! There's a shipwreck over there!" he called out, rushing up to where Eric was now looking at him with concern.

"What? Where?"

"Just over there, on those rocks... There's no way anyone survived that..." Jim said; Eric had turned their own ship towards it at Jim's request. As they neared it, it only confirmed what Jim had assumed. The ship looked as if it had not only been practically cleaved down the middle, but also massive burn damage and exploded chunks of the wreckage were missing.

"You're right, it's too dangerous to even go near it. It could fall into the ocean at any time" Eric spoke, and Jim nodded. He scanned what he could see of the ship at this distance for any bodies, but he saw none. _Probably burnt or sunk already_, he thought grimly. His eyes traveled past the wreck, following the rocks that led up to the coastline and soft wet sand. There was debris floating everywhere, but there was something on the beach that looked distinctly like...

"A body! Eric, there's someone on the beach!" he said, his sharp eyes noticing that it was indeed the slackened form of a human being stretched across the sand. Eric wasted no time in calling out orders.

"Lower anchor, and get ready a lifeboat!"

The ship hands went to work at once, and soon enough Jim, Eric, and two other men were rowing to the shore. Jim's sharp eyes stayed on the body, and as they got closer he noticed that it was a girl. Her hair stood out a mile away; it was long and the brightest red he had ever seen in all his life. They pulled the boat ashore and Jim hopped out, his boots sinking a little in the sand. He jogged over to the girl, with Eric close on his heels.

She was lying on her stomach, as if she had pulled herself ashore (and Jim indeed could see the form of the sand being dragged from the waves where she had come from). He rolled her over and bent his head to her chest to check for a heartbeat. It was steadily beating. Jim let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding.

"She's alive" he said to Eric.

"I don't see how. It's a miracle she survived that" Eric replied. "Try to wake her up, we need to get her back to the ship and to the castle."

Jim nodded, and tentatively reached for her shoulder to shake it gently. "Miss? Erm... Hey, you need to wake up, ok? Uh..." obviously his attempts were feeble. He didn't know what to do. He studied her face; she really was quite pretty. Was it his imagination or did she just smirk slightly? His brow furrowed and he shook her more violently. "Hey! Come on now, wake up! We need to get you back to the boat!" he said firmly. Her eyes fluttered open.

Holy mother of the Universe.

He had no words left in his vocabulary to describe her eyes. "Woah..." he breathed outsider, cursing himself as he realized he had spoken aloud. She giggled softly, then began to cough up salty water. Jim snapped out of it and sat her up, massaging her back softly as she spit up the last of the sea. "Can you stand?" he asked her softly. She shook her head, and he sighed and wrapped her right arm around him as he helped her stand.

She was shaky on her feet, almost as if she had never used them before in her life. He supported her as she tried to steady herself, but promptly she fell against him clutching the front of his shirt.

"Uh, yeah, give me your arm" he managed to get out, somewhat surprised that he had managed to get the words out with such a pretty girl leaning ll over him. He took her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders as he half dragged, half carried her towards the boat.

"What's your name?" he asked once they were safely seated in the boat. She didn't want to be too far away from him, for some reason, as she left no room between them and leaned tiredly in the crook of his arm.

"I'm Ariel" she said softly, her big eyes meeting his. It was then that he realized just how much trouble he was in.

o.O.o.O.o

Ariel spent a while in front of the mirror in the room she was given at Eric's palace using the dinglehopper to brush her long red locks. It had been a close one when she was pushed into the bathtub by some attendants who scrubbed the sea out of her.

Sebastian was still clinging to the inside of her shirt, however, and so she had to elaborately insist on disrobing by herself in order to hide the little crab in one of the dresser drawers until she had finished her bath.

Now she sat, Sebastian pacing (or rather scuttling) back and forth across the vanity; they were planning on just how to make Jim fall head over heels for her.

"You got de looks already, chile, so you don't gotta worry 'bout dat" Sebastian conceded. Ariel giggled a little at the crab's admission, but a small crease appeared in her forehead.

"What if I'm not his type? What if he doesn't like red hair?" she began frantically saying to her companion.

"Ariel! Get wit da program!" he cut her off, snapping his claws for effect. "All you gotta do, I tink, is be yoself. Dat boy ain't got a chance" he said with a genuine smile.

Ariel let a small sigh of relief escape her as she took Sebastian's words to heart. She opened her mouth to reply and thank him, but the door behind her opened and she whirled around, hands paused in mid stroke of the dinglehopper.

Jim was standing there, looking rather alarmed. "I knocked but you didn't say anything so I thought that maybe you may have gotten a concussion from the wreck and passed out... Uh... What are you doing?" he paused once he noticed that she was running a fork through her hair.

"I'm brushing my hair!" she said, beaming. "And no need to worry about me, I'm fine..." she stopped talking abruptly when she found his suddenly in her face, cupping it. 'Well that really didn't take long!' she thought excitedly.

He stared into her eyes, then removing one of his hands from her face in order to watch her huge orbs follow his index finger. "You sure you don't have a concussion?" he said cautiously, squinting at her. She laughed, causing goosebumps to erupt down his arms and his heart to flutter a bit. Such a pretty sound...

"I told you I was okay! I'm completely alright!" she said with a smile, a little disappointed that he hadn't kissed her like she had expected him to, but his hands on her face were nice all the same.

He seemed to notice their proximity and he abruptly dropped his hands from her as though scalded, but then not wanting her to think that he didn't like her or offend her in any way he put his hand back to her cheek, then awkwardly realized how stupid he was being and dropped it again, a little flushed.

"You should use this to brush your hair. Forks are for eating things" he said in order to change the subject; he reached out and grabbed the fork from her hand and replaced it with the brush he saw sitting untouched on the vanity.

She took it and hesitantly ran it through her fiery locks. She gasped in delight at the sensation. "This feels much nicer!" she exclaimed, smiling up at him before beginning to vigorously brush out her hair.

"You're weird." He said this with a smile, however, and she seemed to recognize it as a sort of compliment because she beamed back at him.

* * *

Some Jim/Ariel interaction finally! Are you all as excited as I am?

Next we'll get to see how Dimitri reacts to her, and of course more Jim/Ariel fluffiness.

Please leave me a review and a nice comment or two, and let me know what (and who!) you'd all like to see in the upcoming chapters!


	9. Chapter 9

Here I am again with another update! Just in case I haven't done this yet, here's a story disclaimer:

I don't own anything in this story; the Little Mermaid and Treasure Planet and all other Disney references belong to Disney, while any other animated film references I make belong to their respective owners and all that. All I own is the concept, general storyline core plot, and some of the alternate worlds mentioned herein.

* * *

Chapter 9

Something about this strange redheaded girl drew Jim to prolonging their stay for a few days longer than normal in this world, for deep down in his gut he couldn't picture himself having to say goodbye to her. His chest felt tight every time he tried, and so he simply stopped and took that as a sign to stay.

Dimitri wasn't being of any use, of course, simply emerging at mealtimes and spending the rest of his days locked in the library or in his room, poring through books that he hoped would contain some sort of cure for Aurora. Jim hated to imagine telling his brother that there was almost a zero percent likelihood that anything from this underdeveloped world would help, so he kept his lips sealed and used it as an excuse to spend more time with Ariel.

They had gone out sailing together one day, and she had muttered something rather cryptic about how it was a nice change to be on this side of the ocean for once, but Jim was too busy staring at her smiling face to ask her about it. He itched to pull out his surfer and take a ride on it, missing the feel of defying gravity and as he stared at the pretty redhead he somehow knew she'd be the type to appreciate it; he wasn't used to these almost selfless feeling coursing through him, feelings of wanting to share experiences with another.

"Jim, can we go into town today? I want to see the shops and all the fun things I've heard stories about" she asked him one morning. He was a little startled by this admission, but in truth he was curious about this world's town center so he agreed.

A little while later they managed to procure a horse-drawn carriage on loan from Eric, and with Jim steering they were on their way into town. Upon their arrival they tied it up at a stable and paid the custodian to keep watch over it. Ariel was wearing a lovely light emerald green dress that twirled when she walked, and it simply flowed after her as she rushed around looking at everything like a child in a candy shop.

Jim smiled at her fondly, trying to keep up with her was an effort however and eventually he had to reach out and grab her arm.

"Slow down, Ariel! I know there's a lot to look at, but if I lose you in the crowd that could be a problem" he said with a huff. She blinked at him.

"Okay, well then I guess we'll just have to do this to keep track of one another" she said brightly, and without further ado she grabbed his hand in hers and proceeded to walk at a slightly slower pace to admire all the little stalls full of curious objects, foods, and garments.

Jim's face flashed as red as her hair, but he forced himself to return to his normal tan shade by the time she turned back to look at him.

"Oh Jim, this is gorgeous! Can I get it, please?" she had found a little stall selling jewelry of all sorts, and specifically she was indicating a small pendant bearing the form of a silver seagull on a thin rope of leather.

"It's a seagull" Jim stated slowly, his lips turning up in spite of himself at her enthusiasm.

"Yes, seagulls are my favorite of all birds because they navigate the domain between sky and sea! It's a really fortunate thing they have" she said with a dreamy quality to her voice.

Jim thought briefly that he rather liked the thought of her appraising the sky as something so wonderful, and so without further ado he turned to the stall owner and purchased the little pendant.

"How much do I owe you?" Ariel said, realizing that she had forgotten to pull out her own little pouch of coins that had been given to her kindly by Odette.

"Nothing, it's a gift" Jim said with a crooked smile that made her knees go weak; he walked behind her then, and turned to push her red braid aside in order to loop the leather around her neck loosely before tying it together with help of the silver clasp that came with it. When he was finished, he placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her around to admire how it fell against her warm yet pale skin; he blushed a bit when he realized that it must look like he was staring at her chest.

Ariel suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh thank you Jim! You're really the sweetest, I'm so glad I met you!" she gushed, pulling back from the hug slightly to smile at him.

"You're welcome, it's nothing really" he said, pink tinging his cheeks again as he noted how intensely blue her eyes seemed to be at that moment. Beaming, she disentangled her arms from him and grabbed his hand again as they kept walking among the shops.

They spent their time together happily that day, browsing the stalls some more and even trying on silly clothes and hats in one shop much to the general amusement of the people who saw them; Ariel's mistakenly putting a pair of pants on as a sort of cape causing Jim to double over in fits of laughter.

They then decided to get lunch at a local pub type place, where many of the choices on the menu consisted of seafood. Ariel wrinkled her nose at the menu more than once, opting for the more expensive but less offending choice of grilled steak and roast potatoes while Jim settled on a shepherd's pie.

As they finished up their meal and went to the front desk to pay, however, a group of rather thuggish looking guys approached Ariel and one even placed his large hand on her shoulder to spin her around.

"Hey, girlie, lookin' good... How come I've never seen you around these parts? You new in town?" he leered.

"Yes, as a matter of face, I am" Ariel said with a tone of uncertainty as to what the men wanted.

"Knock it off, Gaston, it's not even dusk yet and I bet you've been drinking... Leave the lass alone" the matron behind the counter warned. The man called Gaston ignored her, and Jim sensing that this guy was trouble reached down to grab hold of Ariel's hand in a sign of defense.

"What, you're with him? Pfft, ditch junior here and come have fun with a real group on men for once" Gaston chortled, his grip tightening on Ariel's shoulder and causing her to wince.

"Back off, or I'll give you something fun to deal with" Jim blurted out as menacingly as possible. He immediately regretted his choice of words, however, as Gaston's greedy eyes flashed to him.

"Did you just threaten me, squirt?" he hissed. "Ha! Let's see who the lady wants to mess around with after I'm through with you..."

"The lady is right here, and I'm staying with Jim!" Ariel suddenly burst out to the general surprise of everyone. "Now let me go in the next two seconds or you'll regret it" she said in a harsh voice that Jim appraised at the moment.

"What's a sweetheart like you gonna do? Besides please me, of course... AHH!" Gaston let out a scream of pain as Ariel pulled out a fork from her little bag and stabbed him in the hand so that he immediately let her go.

Jim let out a bark of laughter and tossed a pile of coins haphazardly on the desk before grabbing Ariel and booking it out the door before Gaston had even pulled the fork out of his bleeding hand.

"LeFou! Catch them!" he roared, and the shortest and dopiest out of the gang of thugs began to scurry after them as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"That was fantastic, Ariel, wow!" Jim praised her as they ran through the crowded streets, pushing past people who gave them odd looks but went back to their duties shortly after.

"Who knew dinglehoppers could be such good weapons!" Ariel exclaimed, and Jim simply laughed at her weird terminology before letting out a cry of surprise as the little creep LeFou had leaped onto his back.

"Gaston will beat you down, I can't wait to watch! And have a turn with this one, if he lets me..." he cackled, and Jim let out a noise of disgust before with Ariel's help he managed to pry the guy off of him and shove him into a stall.

"Sorry!" Ariel called out to the owner as they picked up and began running again. They could hear shouts behind them, and realized that Gaston might have finally managed to begin the chase as well.

Ariel, however, wasn't as used to her new legs as she should have been for an event such as this, and thus she stumbled a bit over the hem of her dress and in general was slowing them down slightly.

Jim turned around to help her up and unfortunately caught a glimpse of an enraged Gaston barreling towards them. With a yelp, he scooped Ariel up into his arms and took off again, reaching the stable where their carriage was being kept.

"Sorry, gotta go, already paid you, bye!" Jim barked to the old guy who ran the place; he tossed Ariel into the carriage and gripped the reins, smacking them harshly and setting the horses on their way at a rather quick gallop.

Ariel held on to Jim for dear life as they swerved out of the stables and into the cobbled streets; she could make out Gaston shouting as they kicked up some dust in his face on their way. Soon after, she realized that they had left him far enough behind for Jim to ease up on the horses as they headed towards the castle.

Laughing, she realized her arms were still around Jim's neck and she pretended not to notice. Jim, at that very moment noticing the same thing, followed her lead and remained content with her clutching him close.

o.O.o.O.o

That night at dinner the two didn't bring up the incident until Odette remarked something about how pretty Ariel's new necklace was, and asked how they had come across it.

With that, Jim had begun to tell the tale and all present at the table listened with rapt attention, laughing at all the right bits and gasping where appropriate.

"That Gaston is such a rabble rouser, ooh I just wish I could catch him doing something so horrible I can punish him for it!" Eric complained.

"Harassing a young woman isn't horrible enough for you?" Odette remarked, although she was in part teasing her husband for his lack of understanding of such matters.

The meal went well for the most part, all but for one particular thing that Jim had noticed coming from his brother. The normally detached Dimitri was staring at Ariel intently, and then back to Jim. He had been much more alert and listened carefully to Jim's story, something that Jim wasn't really expecting him to do.

After dessert, Eric and Odette retired for bed and Grimsby followed soon after, claiming that he needed his rest for a hard day's work starting early the next morning.

That left Jim, Ariel, and Dimitri alone in the small parlor where they had eaten their cake and sipped their dessert wine; Dimitri sat in the large wingbacked chair in front of the fireplace while Jim and Ariel shared the small loveseat across from it.

"You've grown close."

Jim nearly dropped his extremely delicate crystal glass; he had not expected his brother to speak, and he was pretty sure these were the first direct words Dimitri had spoken to him in days.

"Pardon?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit.

"You and this girl. You've grown close" Dimitri repeated, nodding his head slightly towards Ariel whose knuckles turned white as she gripped her dress out of trepidation at the words to come; she did not like where this was going, and neither did Jim.

"What of it? We have fun together, I like being around her and spending time with her" Jim admitted defensively.

"Remember we're on a mission. We can't stay for much longer... We have other places to look" Dimitri said, his voice hard. Jim bristled at this, setting his glass on the side table angrily.

"You're just saying that because you've probably run out of books to research in order to fix Aurora! You don't give a damn about mom, I know you too well!" Jim countered, not really caring that Ariel was hearing all of this.

"Don't pretend you know how I feel about mother, I want to find her as much as you do! Maybe even more so, because I'm pretty sure I won't be getting Aurora back. She's got nothing to do with it" Dimitri began, "although maybe she does. I'm only telling you this because I see how you act with this girl you've known for what, five days at most? Six? And it's like I'm looking at myself. I'm seeing it on repeat, what happened... And the world's a cruel enough place to ruin it all for me, so it definitely will do it for you too!"

Jim sat back, stunned at his brother's apparent concern for him. Was it really the same between him and Ariel? He cast a glance at her from the side, noting her eyebrows set in concentration as she watched his older brother lecture him.

"Who's Aurora?" she suddenly spoke. Dimitri faltered a bit from speaking to his brother and looked over at the redhead. "What happened to her?"

"It's none of your business" Dimitri spat.

"You loved her, didn't you? And she's... gone?" Ariel continued as if his venomous tone didn't even phase her. Dimitri and Jim both blinked, astonished at her perceptiveness.

"It's nothing you would understand. It's... out of this world" Jim tried to explain. He wasn't expecting the flash of determination that appeared on Ariel's face as she grabbed his hand, squeezing it before turning to Dimitri.

"I do understand, actually. And perhaps I can help."

* * *

Well there you go, dear readers! I hope you enjoyed this lovely little chapter, and I'd love to hear your theories on what might occur in the story next!

I just had to throw Gaston in there, of course. He's such an imbecile, I loved writing him! xD

Please leave me a review, and a nice comment about what you guys liked and so on. Also which other characters you'd like to see appear in the fic next!


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